Mutant In Orange
by FullMoonPoet17
Summary: "Well you were able to pull some strings to get you on my visitors list; so why dontcha pull some more and get me outta here." The snicker that played across the girl's lips reminded Xavier of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland and he knew this case was going to be difficult. Of course nothing good came easy and she still had 6 more months.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hello. This is my new story that suddenly popped into my head so I'm not really sure what's going to happen with this one or how often I'm going to update; its basically something I'm going to write while I have writer's block on my other stories. I hope you do enjoy it though and if I should continue with it please leave a review. Thank you~~**_

* * *

The sun was high in the blue sky as Charles watched his students play in the snowy yard below. Bobby formed a tiny snowball in his hands and threw it right at Kitty who dodged it with grace, the kind of grace she learned through her time being at the institute. After dodging Bobby's attack, Kitty formed her own snowball and tossed it at the blonde. The snow broke apart into tiny snowflakes as it crashed against his shoulder. A smile played on both of their lips as more students joined them.

Charles clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth as he steered himself away from the window. A smile was on the Professor's lips as he rolled down towards the computer room that held his precious Cerebro, the mutant finder. With a light sigh Charles thought to himself how he would do a quick scan to see if any new mutants were discovering, or using their ability. Afterwards he will make his way outside to enjoy the sunlight and the joy his students' laughter brought him. The man set the cool metal helmet on his head and closed his eyes, focusing his power. Minutes passed by with Charles focusing, almost forgetting to breath. A rushed release of breath escaped his mouth as Cerebro detected someone.

Opening his eyes, Charles examined the new mutant. The man's brows crushed together in confusion as he read over the information that displayed in front of him. The mutant contained no birth name, only a nickname and only a brief description of her physical features. As the man read through his eyes laid on her location, all the joy that he possessed slipped out of him.

"Oh my." he whispered to himself, not sure what to do, "Guess I'll have to get some advice on this one." With those last words, Charles exited the room, calling Ororo, Hank and Logan to meet him in his office.

* * *

"Are you sure she is really there?" Hank asked, sitting in one of the red chairs with his legs crossed.

"How are you so sure its a she?" Logan asked, picking at his nails.

"Well look at where she is. The only way it would be a male if they were an officer and judging by the description that Charles gave us I'm pretty sure its a girl." Ororo shot back in her African accent.

"Ororo and Hank are correct it must be a female. The only thing is how are we going to communicate with her." Charles laced his fingers together and stared at the mahogany desk in front of him.

"I'm sure you'll be able to think of something Charles. Maybe just go in and introduce yourself, throw a little money their way and you'll be running the joint." Logan chuckled at the thought, but silenced when he saw how serious Xavier took his words.

"That might be what I'll have to do. I'll leave in a few minutes, make sure the students know not to follow me or worry. I'll most likely be gone until after dinner." Charles wheeled himself out of the room, ignoring the protests from his colleges.

Once Xavier's vehicle was ready he began the one hour drive out-of-town, waving to the students he passed. Xavier felt his palms begin to sweat as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel.

"No turning back now, Charles." he whispered to himself as the building sped by him.

* * *

"Hey anyone know where Cheshire is?" a gruffly, heavy-set woman spoke into her radio, her expression showing how displeased she was with her job. After getting a reply she sighed in frustration deepening the wrinkles around her mouth, and walked away from her post.

The woman released the breath in her lungs as she entered a spacious rooms full of blue, plastic chairs and a few small, round tables. She scanned the room, her eyes checking out every person in the room until she found the one she was looking for. She strolled over to young woman, who was sitting at one of the tables with a few other girls. The three of them were laughing and smiling until they saw the grumpy woman appear.

"Uh-oh Cheshire, what'd you do know?" One of the girl's asked, a playful smirk on her dark face. The girl was pretty, even though she didn't have any makeup on, with a dark, coffee skin tone and dark brown eyes. Her hair was short, almost looking as if she shaved it a few weeks ago.

"Hey, I didn't do nothing...yet." A second girl smirked as she laughed out the last word.

"Look all you did was not show up even though you have a visitor. Now get up and follow me." the woman said, signaling for the girl to follow.

"I thought that was a joke. I don't even have anyone to visit me, my list is empty." the girl rose from her chair, thinking it was all one big joke being played on her. There was only one other woman in here that never had visitors and they didn't really speak to each other.

"No joke, he's waiting for you."

"He?" the girl asked questions as she followed the woman down the winding hallways towards the visitor's room.

"Yup, he." The woman spit the word at the girl and waved for her to enter the room.

"So who is he?" The girl whispered as she glanced at the room. In the right corner was a hispanic woman, her long hair tied back with a hair tie. Across from her was a man with different tattoos decorating his body and he was holding a young infant. "Damn, Maria's kid is gettin' big." she whispered, scanning the room again. There were the usual visiting room people, most of them crying and trying to touch the other's hand when no one was looking. Some had a stone cold face as if they were being visited by one of the skeletons in their closets.

The only person that stood out sat in the center of the room. He sat in a silver wheelchair and wore an ironed, black suit with a red tie. His fingers laced with each other and sat on the table as he waited patiently for whoever he was here to visit to arrive. The florescent lights reflected off his bald head and she noticed how the soft smirk on his face didn't waiver even as she sat down across from him.

"Hello, my name is Charles Xavier." he spoke clearly, pronouncing each word slowly as if he thinking she didn't speak english or was just stupid.

"So you some sorta lawyer? Cause I already got one of them, even though I'm looking for another one." Cheshire crossed her arms and put her feet on the table, trying to be as distant from the man as possible.

"I am not a lawyer although I could be if you wanted me to. I stopped by to speak with you, miss?" he dragged out the 's' as if waiting for her to give out her name.

"Cheshire. The name's Cheshire. You already knew that though cause you had to say it to be on visitor's list." Cheshire narrowed her eyes at him, trying to read what type of person he was and why he was really here.

"I did know you nickname, I was hoping you could give me your real name."

"I don't have one. Sorry, Cheshire is the only name I have." Cheshire rocked on the back two legs of her chair.

"Well Miss Cheshire, I wanted to ask you a few questions."

"Okay shoot. If I don't want to answer though I won't."

"That's fair, just say pass. Okay?"

"Alright."

"How long are you here for?"

"Six more months."

"Why are you in here?"

"Pass."

"How old are you?"

"Pass."

"Who are your parents?"

"Pass."

"Will you answer any of these questions?" Charles asked, his eye slightly twitching in agitation.

"I answered one. Maybe I'll answer another, depends." Cheshire clicked her tongue at the man, a smirk growing on her face.

"Why do they call you Cheshire?"

"Cause I disappear."

"You disappear? How?"

"Magic. Complete and utter magic."

"I'll ask again. How do you disappear?"

"I don't know. It just happens, sometimes I want it to and sometimes I don't."

"You don't have complete control over it?"

"No I don't that's what I just said. Sometimes I just disappear without knowing why and then I end up in weird places."

"You travel?"

"Not outside here but yeah."

"When was the last time this happened? When you disappeared and appeared in a different place?"

"Yesterday."

"What happened?"

"Pass."

"I'm sorry but I really do need to know so I can help you."

"Why do you want to help me?"

"Cause I want to help everyone that is special, like you. So please tell me what happened."

With a deep sigh Cheshire spoke.

"It was during dinner. I stood up when I was done eatin' and threw my food away I was outside the doors when it happened. I found myself outside on the track in the freezing snow without a jacket. I don't even know how I got outside."

"Cheshire, I believe you carry the X-gene. A genetic mutation that gives you this amazing gift."

"It's not a gift, I don't know what it is."

"It's a gift, Cheshire, a special gift. There are others with the same gift as you and they are back at my school, the Xavier Institute for the Gifted."

"Why are you telling me all this? I still have six months in here."

"Yes but those six months will go by very quickly and when you are out you will have a home waiting for you, if you'd like."

"A home? Really?" Cheshire lowered her feet to the ground and leaned on the table, getting closer to the man.

"Yes a home that can help you control your gift."

"I'll think about it." Cheshire said, getting up from her seat and walking away. She didn't bother with saying goodbye, knowing she would see the man again.

* * *

Charles sighed, relieved that he was able to meet the girl even though it cost him over a thousand dollars to see her. He was shocked that she looked so young, almost as if she was a teenager.

The conversation with Cheshire replayed in his head. She was very reluctant to answer most of his questions, which wasn't very shocking to him. Most people in her position don't want to talk about their past. He was shocked, however, that she seemed so happy to hear about a home waiting for her. Although she didn't smile at him, her actions spoke. She kept him at a distance through the entire conversation, only when he mentioned the institute did she let him near.

"Hopefully she'll make the right choice and be free of this place forever." he said, hopefully as he got into his car.

After checking out with the security Charles drove back home. He looked in the rearview mirror as the sun set behind the Bayville Woman's Correctional Facility.


	2. Chapter 2

Cheshire rose from her slumber and scrapped the sleep from her eyes with her fingers. After blinking numerous times so her eyes wouldn't be blurry the girl glanced around. Nothing changed in this place, almost as if it was frozen in time.

"Hey glad to see you're awake. Better hurry before you miss breakfast; its pancakes and sausage." a heavy-set woman with star tattoos across her pale cheek smiled down at the girl as she got dressed.

"Oh yeah? Let me guess you gave your salute to someone straight? No meat in your pink." Cheshire chuckled at her joke as did the woman, whose eyes trailed up and down Cheshire's slim tan body.

"Oh you know me too well Chesh. How about I put my meat in your pink?" the woman licked her pink, chapped lips seductively still checking out the girl as she pulled a beige shirt over herself.

"Sorry I've already seen your meat and the way you work it. Not interested unless your bigger than 6 inches." Cheshire winked at the lady and walked out of the room, leaving the woman to follow after her.

"Damn you cold Chesh. Why don't you let anyone close to you?"

"What are you talkin' about? I let plenty of people get close to me. There's Mona and Andrea, um, Stacy and Tasti."

"Wow didn't know you were a poet, rhyming all your names and shit."

"Oh hush, Leah. I rhymed Stacy and Tasti. That's not poetic or a poem." the two girls giggled as they entered the giant cafeteria. Guards spaced around the room and hung at the walls watching everyone that entered and what they were doing. The two prisoners stalked through the crowds, being ignored by the different 'clicks'.

Cheshire grabbed a pale yellow tray that had four little places for food to sit in. She grabbed a glass full of pale, red, sugarless koolaid and started down the line for food. Two lukewarm pancakes with a tiny slice of butter, one shriveled sausage link and a stale biscuit. She scoffed at the food, pivoted on her foot and headed towards her only friends.

In the center of the cafeteria were the 'whites', beside them were the Hispanics then the country folks. On the other side of the 'whites' were the 'blacks' and behind them were the elderly. Other groups spaced out but the grouping was still based on ethnicity and age. Cheshire believed it was sad how one would normally see these clicks in highschool based dramas but they were really in prison.

"Yo, you gonna just walk right by us Chesh?" a woman mocked at Cheshire, drawing her out of her mind and back into the cafeteria. The woman was only a little bit older than Cheshire; she had long blonde hair that pushed onto one shoulder and green eyes that had dulled over the months of her being here.

"Shit, guess I got caught up in my thoughts." Cheshire took a step back so she was able to set her tray down before pulling out a chair and sitting at the table.

"No worries, glad I was able to catch you attention before you got shanked by the elderly." the blonde laughed and forced a smile to Cheshire's lips.

"Yeah you always gettin' my attention Stacy." Cheshire giggled as the words escaped Leah's mouth.

"Oh I get your attention? How about I get it some more after breakfast? I think we better do some praying." Stacy smirked at the tattooed girl as she sat beside Cheshire.

"Damn you two have more hormones than any teenage boy I ever met." the girl beside Stacy groaned. Her name was Mona, which everyone mainly pronounced it as Moaner just to get a rise out of her. She had short curly brown hair and dull blue eyes and the smallest lips Cheshire had every seen on a person.

"Hey, anyone seen Andrea?" Cheshire asked, scanning the tiny room for her friend.

"Isn't she your bunk mate?" Stacy asked, biting into the pancakes.

"Well yeah but she wasn't there when I woke up, thought I'd see her here for breakfast."

"Well she might be in the showers, taking your hot water again." Leah stated, trying to make a joke out of the numerous times Cheshire had to take a cold shower in the morning since Andrea used up the hot water for the both of them.

"Nah, her shower would've been over by now." Cheshire said, picking at the pancakes in front of her.

"Guys! Guys! You'll never guess what's happened!" Bursting through the doors and running over to the girls came an average height red-head with crazy curly hair.

"Wow Crazy. Calm down before you get escorted out of here then tell us what happened." Cheshire grinned as Crazy took a seat next to Mona.

"Okay okay, your right." Crazy took a deep breath, "So I was walking towards the shower when I saw two guards escorting someone to S.C. and you'll never guess who."

"Then tell us." Leah said, never liking the guessing game that Crazy loved to play.

"Andrea. They said something about her needing to sweat shit out."

"Wait she's in S.C.? How'd she look? Did you get a good look at her?" Cheshire asked, anger rising to her throat from her stomach.

"Yeah, yeah I did. She was scratching at her arms and convulsing; oh and sweating pretty bad."

"Motherfucker, she's detoxing!" Cheshire said, her voice barely above a yell.

"Wait, how can she be detoxing now? She's been in here for over two years."

"Well that's the fifth person this week to go to S.C. for detox, maybe this cheap ass place will finally hold an investigation." Cheshire glanced over at one at the guards. She was a tall slender woman who tied her raven black hair up in a tight bun at the top of her head. She had a smirk on her painted face, as if she enjoyed the pain she inflicted on the addicts in this prison.

"Damn, that's messed." Leah said as they all grabbed their trays, threw out their half eaten food and existed to go to work.

"Not so fast Cheshire. You've got other things to do than go to the Library." the guard with the black hair called at the young girl.

"Yeah and what's that?" Cheshire asked, spitting the words at the guard. She didn't flinch at the words, instead she flicked her fingers at Cheshire and lead her in the opposite direction of everyone else.

* * *

Charles waited patiently in a small room, drumming his fingers against a small wooden desk. As the minutes ticked by Charles took a look around in the tiny room. There was clear, plastic wall that separated the room with holes in it to allow air and conversations. On the other side of the wall was a plastic, blue chair that had straps on the legs and arm rests. A cold sweat starting to break across his forehead as simple thought of what might have happened in this room played in his mind. Another fear began to itch its way into his mind, _what if Cheshire was in this room before? _The fear in Charles stomach wasn't from the thought but from the curiosity that the thought provoked inside him. He was curious about this young girl and he would do anything to dive inside her mind and figure everything about her out.

Charles vigorously shook his head of the thoughts. He made a promise to himself long ago that he would never do such a thing to anyone. It was cruel and an invasion of their privacy. He was above using his ability selfishly and he had an entire facility that respected and trusted him.

Charles stopped shaking his head as the noise of a door opening captured his attention. With wide eyes, Charles watched as Cheshire was escorted into the room by four guards. One exited the room, to stand guard in case she attempted to use her ability was Charles guess. Another stood by the chair while the last two strapped Cheshire down. Charles expected the girl to have a mixed look of fear of anger but once the guards moved out of the way all she had on was a grin; a grin that stretched across her cheeks towards her ears and showed her yellow tinted teeth.

"Hello Cheshire, do you remember who I am?" Charles asked, resting his hands on the desk.

"Yeah, your the bald guy that visited me two weeks ago. I was beginning to think that you forgot about me." Sarcasm laced her words and the grin never wavered.

"I would never forget about a fellow mutant, especially in your case."

"My case? You mean prison?" Cheshire attempted to slouch in her chair and bring her feet up, just like she did when they first met but the restraints kept her in place.

"No. By case I mean the reason why you are in here." Charles picked up his hands and opened the beige folder in front of him.

"What, what the hell is that?" Cheshire asked, straining her neck to try to look.

"Its your record, your criminal record. I also have a few personal records."

"Why do you have those? Are you some sorta stalker?"

"No, nothing of the sorts. In your case I wanted to look into why you are here before I allow you to enter the safety of my home. I want to take care of you as if you were my own child but I need to believe that you won't harm my other children."

"So you know everything?"

"Not exactly. There are tons of gaps in your personal records. There's hardly any schools listed past 6th grade."

"I never made it to 7th."

"How? Everyone goes through middle school and high school but you don't have any listed."

"Cause I never made it. I was first arrested in the 6th grade, its in there look under armed robbery." Charles took a deep breath before skimming over the papers in front of him.

"It says here you held a convenient store at gun point. How is that possible, you were so young."

"Well you gotta do what you gotta do to survive."

"It says here that you lived in a two bedroom home in a very nice neighborhood with your mother."

"Yeah I knew a hacker that changed some information to make it look like I wasn't really living on the streets."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Like I said you gotta do what you gotta do to survive." Charles noticed that Cheshire pulled at the straps, straining them so they would eventually break.

"Have you been in this room before, or a similar room?" he asked, trying to change the direction of the conversation.

"Yeah, twice when they first discovered my abilities."

"The guards know of your mutant ability?"

"Yeah, they all know well except the newbies."

The conversation continued for another hour before Charles decided to leave. He watched as two guards entered the room, unstrapped Cheshire and exited. The man sighed in relief that he was able to get a little bit more information out of the girl but with every questioned she answered she also struck more questions within the man. She was a confusing young girl and Charles wasn't sure if he could trust the information put in front of him. If she had a hacker friend then a lot of these documents could be wrong and that worried Charles more than he would've liked it to.

* * *

Cheshire let the guards guide her through the hallways that she walked everyday. They turned and twisted through the paths, ignoring anyone that was lounging around. Cheshire walked past the rec room and cafeteria, past the bathrooms and the door that led outside to the track. The young girl found herself outside the doorway that led to her cell block.

She let out a soft sigh of sadness as she noticed that Andrea wasn't in her own bed across from Cheshire's. She felt uneasy crawling into bed with people surrounded her while Andrea was trapped in a single cell with an old, worn out bed and a stained toilet with sink. She imagined her blonde friend curled up on the bed, sweat soaking her clothes as she shivered vigorously.

"Yo, why were you takin' away today?" Leah asked, sitting up on her bed so she could see over the brick wall.

"Yeah we saw them taking you down No Return Hall." Mona pitched in from her bed across from Leah's.

"Yea they took me down to Looneyville."

"Seriously? Did you have another episode? What happened?" Leah asked, her voice ringing through the area and drawing everyone to them.

"It wasn't because of an episode, I'm getting some sort of treatment or something." Cheshire claimed, looking out her tiny window. The sun was barely shining through a thick layer of gray clouds, threatening to drown them in a downpour of rain.

"Treatment? Like shock therapy?" Mona asked, her eyes widening.

"No nothing like that. It's just treatment about my disappearing act." Cheshire said, rising from her seat and walking away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Leah asked, rising to follow.

"Gonna go watch some tv. Way to bored in here."


	3. Chapter 3

**Warning: Swearing. This chapter does contain a bit of swearing if you do not like that well my apologies but that's just the way these people talk.**

"You know what I can't stand?" Leah raised her voice so that everyone in the tiny room could hear them.

"Just make your racist point and let's get back to the game alright?" Cheshire rolled her eyes and shuffled the stained deck of cards in her hands. Most of the cards were bent, ripped and all around stained but they were still usable enough to play Groups and Runs with other people. The current players were Leah, Cheshire, Mona and Andrea. The small group didn't really pay attention to points since they didn't have any paper to write everything down.

"I wasn't going to be racist thank you very much Chesh."

"Well then will ya shut it, its your turn to deal." Cheshire slammed the cards in front of the heavy woman, glaring until she began passing cards to everyone.

"What I was gonna say was how I hate how the religious bitches keep shoving their shit down my throat. I don't believe in what you believe in deal with it." Leah growled, passing out the last card and putting the remaining in the center.

"Oh shit what happened now?" Mona said, matching cards together in her delicate, bruised hands.

"I was just dropping my laundry off so they could wash it and do what they do when that brown-haired bitch preaches how she won't wash my shit unless I get on my knees and beg God for forgiveness. What the hell, I don't have shit that need forgivin'. I'm a god damn saint."

"Yeah cause most people that create fake credit card accounts are using the money to help the homeless." Cheshire grinned, putting down a few cards.

"Well I did give you a box that one time." Leah laughed. Her laughter only grew when Cheshire threw a few cards at her.

"If I remember correctly you took my box, cut a hole in it then gave it back to me with two pennies in it after I chased you down two blocks, in the rain."

"Through the beautiful streets of New York City and if I remember you smeared dirt on my new fur coat."

"Damn straight, you bitch."Cheshire joined the girl in laughing about their past. They didn't realise then that people who seemed to be better than her actually weren't and that eventually everyone ends up in one place, one way or another.

"Did you two ever meet up after that little encounter?" Mona asked, the game almost forgotten.

"Not that I can recall cause she left my box at Central Park and I met Andrea like an hour after that." Cheshire said, racking her brain for any other encounter with Leah.

"Yeah, I was arrested four days after that then we remet two weeks later." Leah grinned, shaking her head slightly.

"Man its crazy how we've all been in here for like two years." Andrea put her thoughts in, dropping her cards on the table.

"You two have been in here, remember I was in here for a month then they found out my age so I was released." Cheshire put in, also dropping her cards and ending the game.

"I was pretty sad when you showed back up like a year later." Andrea said, getting an approval nod from Leah.

"Well shit happens." The girl said, pulling her brown hair from the messy bun she kept it in. Her hair had a light curl in it and fell to the middle of her back, she liked to keep it out-of-the-way while she went through her days in Hell.

"Shit always happens to you though. You got daddy issues, mommy issues. Shit you even got uncle issues like who has that?" Tasti appeared behind Cheshire with a tiny smirk on her face.

"Me, that's who. The main thing you got at with that little sentence is I have family issues which isn't true."

"Its way true girl and you know that. That's why the only person you close to is Andrea." Cheshire rose to her feet, trying to come face to face with Tasti. Of course she didn't being the shortest person in the entire facility, she only reached Tasti's shoulders.

"She's the only one that's proven she can be trusted." she whispered a smirk on her face as she vanished into the background.

"Fuck, wish I could do that." Tasti said, flinching as the door slammed shut behind her.

* * *

Cheshire strolled through the hallways, not really heading in a certain direction. One glance at a nearby clock showed that her weekly 2 p.m. appointment with the bald man. She loathed every meeting they had. The way his tiny eyes burned into her gaze, even after she moved her eyes away. She always felt as if he was judging her, making an inside comment about every little thing she said; which is why she tried to talk as little as possible.

"Cheshire, I bet you can tell me where we're going." A male officer grabbed the girl by the arm, yanking her towards Hell. The man was tall and tough in build, his arm muscles bulged under the long-sleeved blue shirt he wore.

It didn't take long for three more guards to join him at the door. It was the same routine every time; three guards waited and as soon as Cheshire was in view they opened the door and seated her down with straps around her wrists and ankles. Just like everything else in this place nothing changed, it was all routine.

"Hello Cheshire, how are you?" His opening never changed, as soon as the guards were out and they were alone he said the same thing.

"Hello, fine." her answer never changed, neither did her facial expression.

"Just fine? Aren't you happy that you get out tomorrow?" he cracked his head to the side, most likely secretly laughing at her for hiding how excited she was to finally leave.

"I'll be out for a while but then I'll break probation and be right back where I started." Even when she is free, nothing changes. She will mix up with the wrong guy who will screw her over and leave her to take the blame for everything.

"Not this time, I will make sure that you stay on the right path."

"It never changes Baldy, it never changes."

"And why do you say that?" He laces his fingers together and rests his head on top of them, she can barely make out his knuckles turning red as his chin digs into them.

"It happens every time I'm free. I get out for a few months then something happens and I take the blame for everything."

"How many times has that happened?" His eyes narrowed at her, trying to burn themselves past her face and into her mind to read her darkest memories.

"About 5, maybe 6 times." a small smirk crossed the girl's face while she watched the bald man recompose himself after taking a shock.

"So many times, I will make sure it doesn't happen again." he muttered to himself, taking a few deep breaths. Cheshire's smirk didn't lessen even after the man stopped mumbling to himself.

"So we done here?" she asked, already feeling her feet beginning to fade away. The sensation of disappearing was always different and depended on how she did it. If she was being slow then it only felt like a small tingle around her with a sudden warmth through her spine; but if she was scared or in a hurry then it almost hurt, like a lightening bolt struck through her and pain surged through her nerves. She liked to take it slow though because the warmth that engulfed her made her feel at peace, like this is what it must feel like to be hugged by someone.

"I don't want you to disappear just yet, Ms. Cheshire." the man's words cut Cheshire's concentration and the warmth that began to grow quickly vanished just as her feet reappeared. She swore at the man under her breath and tried to hide her anger under a smile.

"Well then quit muttering to yourself and let's get this rolling again." she spat the words at the man, her smile still on her face.

"Very well. I'd like you to tell me about your family, if you don't mind." She hated this and he knew it. He always wanted her to spill about her past or the family that never cared. Drawing up the memories would be to painful and she hated the way tears stung her eyes.

"I told you everything."

"No you didn't, I knew you would lie to me so I did a little more digging." Xavier leaned down the side of his chair where a tiny case laid by his feet. He picked up and unlatched the locks, sending an annoying noise through the tiny room.

"So what were able to dig up?" she asked, her smile fading as she began to recognize the papers the man was pulling out.

"Foster home records, adoption agencies. You had a very busy childhood that was full of moving around. Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

"It wasn't important. Its still not important."

"If you believe it wasn't important then you would have the smile on your face still. So please, tell me everything you remember." She was shocked that he noticed the disappearance of her smile and that she used it as cover for anything. He must've been taking some serious notes about her behavior if he could notice something as small as how much she smiles and why.

"No, I'd rather disappear." with the smirk back on her face, Cheshire quickly vanished from his sight before he could do anything about it.

The girl found herself a few minutes later on her bed, clutching her stomach and convulsing. She hated the after effects of disappearing quickly, the pain and shaking with the over whelming feeling that was going to vomit.

"Damn don't you look like shit." Leah commented as she leaned against the wall and looked down at Cheshire.

"Give me a few minutes...and I'll make...you feel worse...than me." Cheshire choked out, her smile slowly appearing.

"You'll need more than a few minutes in the condition you're in." Leah laughed, clutching her sides.

"Oh man, look at you!" Andrea rushed to her roommates side and kneeled beside her bed.

"Don't worry...I look...worse than I feel." a small chuckle escaped Cheshire's lips.

"Don't you lie to me. Look at you curled up on your bed, shaking. Plus your fucking white as snow." Andrea laid her hand on Cheshire's forehead, delicately trying to see if she was running a fever.

"I'm tellin' you I'm fine." Cheshire swatted Andrea's hand away and rolled over so she was facing the wall and everyone was behind her.

"Hey Leah, I think its time for you to get lost." Andrea shot at the heavy girl, making her know that her presence was no longer wanted.

"Well fine then, see you two bitches later." Leah flipped the girls the bird as she walked away from the scene, most likely heading towards the gym.

"Alright, spill." Andrea said, sitting next to the curled up Cheshire on the small bed.

"Nothing to spill."

"Bull, I know you don't just poof out of a situation so quickly."

"What makes you say I just 'poofed' away so fast?" Cheshire asked, the pain had finally subsided and she was able to talk and breathe normally.

"You told me it only hurts when you do it fast and I've seen this shit before. You forget I've been your bunkmate since the first time you were thrown in here."

"Damn, that was like a year and a half ago." Cheshire reminisced with her friend, both of them staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah, you really are a dumb kid you know that?"

"Yeah, I know but you ain't to bright either."

"True, true. So you gonna tell me what happened or do I have to wait until you're thrown in here again?"

"That stupid bald man and his dumb questions, I got fed up and left."

"What did he ask you? You normally just deny him an answer so it must've been something serious."

"He was asking me about the old broad, like I want to look back into the past. Its bad enough I'm basically followin' in her footsteps."

"What makes you say that? You don't really talk about your mom, not even to me." Andrea claimed, laying a reassuring hand on Cheshire's knee.

"I remember when she first stole me out of foster care, she told me how the first time she was ever institutionalized was when she was 16 years old. She claimed it scared the shit out of her and that she didn't really want it for me."

"But didn't she take you with her to rob a bank?"

"Yup, my ma ain't to bright, like me I guess." Cheshire's smile didn't return to her face, making Andrea worry about her friend.

"Well let's cheer you up, there's some sort of going away party for you down at the tv room. Let's go check it out, everyone's dyeing to say goodbye to you." Andrea took Cheshire's hand and the two raced down the hallways, knowing this could be the last time they do so.


	4. Chapter 4

Today should be a good day; a happy one at least. Yet Cheshire found herself filled with dread as the guards escorted her through the halls. She had spent the morning packing her belongings and she could hear the tiny items jingle behind her as a guard carried the old wooden box. Prisoners and guards parted down the hallway, allowing them to pass through the center; many of the familiar faces had smiles and some even wished her luck on the outside. With a smirk on her face to hide the fear, Cheshire waved them all goodbye.

A small cloud formed in front of her mouth as Cheshire entered the frigid outside. The middle of winter was always the coldest and Cheshire found herself filled with joy at the thought of being somewhere warm during the freezing nights. Cheshire could feel the silver cuffs around her wrists begin to frost over even though she had only been outside for a few minutes. The guards walked her over to a small, white bus that has clouds coming up from behind, signaling that it was running.

"Alright up on the bus, we will drop you off at the place written down by the office." the female guard to Cheshire's left nudged her forward, onto the bus and far away. Normally Cheshire would ask where she was going, since it changed every time she was released but she knew she was just wasting her warm breath, she already knew that Xavier made arrangements for her to go to his house so he could care for her; at least that's what he claimed.

Cheshire took her seat next to a window with a guard sitting next to her. Her right wrist was released from its cuff yet she was tied to a metal pole that ran across the seat in front of her. With the long trip ahead of her Cheshire decided to stretch her legs and rest her eyes and by the sigh that escaped beside her, she knew the guard was doing the same.

* * *

Cheshire's head rested on the cool window, until the bus came to a sudden and bumpy stop. Her head smacked into the glass and she could feel a small headache approaching. She wasn't sure how long she had been out but by the looks of the sun in the middle of the sky it was most likely a good hour or so.

"You ready kid?" the guard next to her asked, a light smile on his aged face. Cheshire stared at his face, as if she was trying to memorize the wrinkles that surrounded his lips and the graying hair of his eyebrows that were barely above his dimly lit, green eyes. Cheshire suddenly found her mouth dry and her voice had vanished when she opened her mouth to reply to him, so she nodded and allowed him to un-cuff her from the seat but put the cuff back on her right wrist.

"No last words this time, Cheshire?" the female guard from before asked as Cheshire was led off the bus.

"Nah, not this time." the girl smirked, getting off the bus.

The sight before Cheshire stunned her and made her pause where she stood. A tall, grand mansion greeted the girl with marble pillars and a white brick entry floor. She gazed around to find an enormous swan fountain in the center of a large, green front yard. Two hedges circled the fountain with an assortment of flowers around it all. Past the fountain were tall, black gates that surrounded the entire area, allowing hundreds of acres of land. Cheshire and the guards both sighed in astonishment as they took in the sight before them.

"Damn I might need to get arrested next." the female guard claimed with a light giggle.

"Nah, you ain't as special as me." Cheshire joined her in a light giggle as the man turned and faced her. He held a tiny silver key in is old, calloused fingers. A light smile played on his chapped lips as he inserted the key into the cuffs, releasing the girl's wrists.

"Well Ms. Cheshire, you are now an offical free woman. I pray you do something good with this life that you have been given." The man laid a gentle kiss on the girl's forehead and she let out a light giggle. To anyone on the outside looking at them it would seem weird, terrifying almost at the look of such an intimate moment between a prisoner and a guard; but to these two they have been together since he first arrested her when she was twelve years old and then he's been at every meeting and releasing since, even when she was in Juvy.

"Hopefully when we meet again it won't be back there. It's been fun, Paul." Cheshire almost felt like crying, knowing that she may never see the old man again but she resisted any feeling she got.

"I hope to see you again, but not behind bars." the man gave her a pat on the shoulder and the woman gave her a quick squeeze on her arm before they both got back on the bus and drove away.

"Damn, that fucker almost made me cry." she whispered, grabbing her box and walking up to the front door. Cheshire hesitated at the front door, her hand hovering over the knob. A cold sweat began to break down her back, threatening to soak her shirt. She normally didn't fear the bald man but the only times they met there was a wall and chains separating them and the last time they spoke she vanished on him before giving him any answers.

Before Cheshire could make the decision to run or open the door, she heard the handle click open. The door creaked before her, opening up a grand foyer that held dozens of people. Most of them looked like teenagers or younger but there were a few adults scattered around. In the center of the group, sitting in a wheelchair was Xavier.

"Welcome to your new home, Cheshire." he greeted her, opening his arms to signal that the entire mansion was now where she belonged.

"H-hello." she stuttered out, not enjoying being the center of everyone's attention.

"Okay, everyone scatter. You can say your hellos after we get her situated." a large, muscular man barked orders and Cheshire watched as the children departed, heading their own separate ways. Only the adults stayed and Cheshire wasn't sure if she wanted to vanish or not.

"Don't be afraid Cheshire, we are all here to help you." Xavier said, a reassuring smile on his face.

"Yes, please do not fear us." An older woman said in an African accent, it reminded Cheshire of Olara back at the prison. Although the two were drastically different in appearances. The woman in front of Cheshire had long, silver hair that was tied back into the ponytail while Olara had gray hair that was short and wiry. The woman was also thin with muscular arms and legs, signaling she worked out quit often, Olara barely left her bed.

There were two other adults in the room. One was a large man covered in light blue fur, he wore glasses and underneath his nose Cheshire could see pure white fangs in his mouth. The next was a skinnier man, he wore a brown trench coat that matched his short hair.

"I'm not scared, this all just different." Cheshire claimed, taking a side step towards her box.

"You gonna introduce yourself then?" the man to the left of Xaviar growled, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Now Logan, there's no need to be so crude about it." Xaviar told the man, not looking in his direction.

"The names Cheshire." her name rolled off her tongue and she put her hands on her hips.

"Like the cat?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Like the 'that's my name and you gotta deal wit' it'." Cheshire kicked up one side of her hips, leaning on that foot to give her more sas.

"Sassy little brat." Logan growled under his breath hoping she wouldn't hear.

"Ororo would you be so kind as to help Ms. Cheshire with her things and to show her to her room?" Xaviar asked. The woman with the accent walked towards Cheshire, holding out her hand.

"Hello Cheshire, my name is Ororo. It's nice to meet you."

"Ditto." Cheshire said, grabbing her box and waiting to follow Ororo; ignoring her hand. Ororo sighed and turned on her heel, leading the girl up grand, wooden stairs. She found herself almost slipping on the red rug that ran down the center of the stairs, a vibrant color against the deep cherry wood.

"Watch your step, the rug likes to trip new comers." Ororo laughed, using her peripheral vision to keep an eye on Cheshire.

"Yeah, no kiddin'." Cheshire growled, watching her feet as she carefully took each step. After the stairs Cheshire found herself staring down an almost endless hallway. The vibrant red rug was still in the center but the wooden stairs were replaced with white tiles. The walls were painted an off white color and there were countless light brown doors. There were name plates on the doors, each name written by different people. Jean and Rouge, Amara and Jubilee...the names went on and on; each door containing two names. Cheshire also found the names to be feminine, she couldn't find a single male name even though she saw men downstairs.

"This is the Girl's Wing. Everyone has a roommate except for teachers." Ororo explained, soothing Cheshire's confusion.

"So where is my room?" Cheshire asked, grimacing at the thought of having a roommate.

"Right here, Kathryn hasn't had a roommate since Tabitha left." Ororo said, motioning towards a door. The name plate had a single name on it, Kitty Pryde. The y's were swirled and the whole name was written very big and girly, a heart shape over the eye being the girly part. With the way the name was written Cheshire wondered how she would be able to fit her own name on the board.

"Okay, cool." Ororo handed Cheshire a small golden key and allowed her to use it to unlock the door. The room was huge with a large window across from the door. It fit two queen size beds, both made neatly and two dressers. Cheshire noticed a door next to each of the beds, signaling closets. She never had this much space before and she found herself running her fingers on what she assumed was her side of the room. There was a brown vanity with a large mirror and lights surrounding it. The other side of the room also had a vanity and Cheshire could see scattered containers of makeup.

"Well I will leave to get situated, Xavier was able to find where you were living before and arranged for everything to be brought here; its all on top of your bed." Ororo waved goodbye and closed the door behind her.

With a sigh Cheshire walked over to her bed to find a large black suitcase sitting on top of the navy blue comforter. After unzipping and opening the case, Cheshire found all her shirts, pants undergarments inside; she was shocked to find a small box full of her jewelry inside as well she was certain her roommates would've auctioned it off to make a quick profit.

* * *

Taking a few hours to herself to unpack and situate everything to her liking Cheshire heard a faint knock at the door. She looked over her shoulder to see it opening slowly. A girl stood in the doorway with a blinding white smile plastered on her tan face. She had brown hair that was tied in a pony tail and wore a light pink coat that looked thin with a pale yellow shirt underneath. Her blue jeans were rolled up to look more like capris and she also had on a yellow beaded necklace. Cheshire looked eyes with the girl, feeling the blue gaze pierce through her.

"Hey, you must be my new roommate!" the girl squealed with joy and ran over to Cheshire. "My name is Kitty or ShadowCat, what's your name?" The girl asked, taking Cheshire's hands in her own.

"The names Cheshire." she took her hands back and patted down her legs, pretending to pat dust away.

"Awesome! So where did you live before coming here?" Kitty asked, jumping on her bed and looking at Cheshire.

"Xavier didn't tell you?" Cheshire asked, sitting down on her bed. One leg hung off the bed and touched the floor giving her a sense of security that she could bolt out of the room if she wanted.

"No he just said that a new student was joining us with an incredible ability and to not ask too many questions."

"Oh well I came from a place in upper New York."

"Yeah? Where?"

"I don't really feel like answering that right now." Kitty's face dropped but she quickly put the smile back on.

"Well no worries then you can tell me when you feel like it, how about we go down stairs and I can show you the arcade?" Kitty asked, jumping from her bed and holding out her hand for Cheshire.

"Sure, sounds fun I guess." Cheshire responded, getting up from her seat and signaling for Kitty to take the lead. Kitty's hand dropped as she passed by Cheshire, leading her out of the room.

The two girls made their way down the stairs then took a sharp turn, opening a large glass door Kitty lead them to a darker room filled with tv's, consols and games. There were two pool tables off in a corner and darts in another. A large case held the video games and couches were scattered around.

"What do you like to play?" Kitty asked, turning around to face the new girl.

"Um, I'm not really sure. I've never really had time to play a lot of games before." _Other than card games or charades_, she whispered to herself.

"Really? Well we have all the consols you could think of with all the games, there's pool or darts. We even have playing cards if you're into poker."

"Hey a game of poker sounds good." a husky voice sounded from one of the couches. A tall, teenage boy with short brown hair with bangs stood from his seat with a smile on his face.

"Oh hey Scott, I didn't see you in here." Kitty said.

"Hey now, I'm in here too." a German accent filled the room as another boy hopped out of his seat and in front of the two girls. He had blue fur over his body and sharp fangs. Cheshire also noticed a devilish looking tail swinging from side to side behind him.

"Kurt, you can't just jump at us like that!" Kitty yelled, Cheshire tried to withhold a giggle that erupted from her throat at how terrified Kitty got around the boy.

"Oh my bad, I'm sorry."

"No probs dude." Cheshire said, a smile on her face.

"Oh man, you must be the new student Professor was talking about! I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself yet. The names Scott Summers."

"And I'm Kurt." both men held out their hands, hoping the girl would shake them.

"I'm Cheshire. Nice to meet you guys." Cheshire waved at the boys, not taking their hands.

"Same here." both men replied with smiles on their faces.

"So, um Scott, what's up with the shades?" Cheshire asked, pointing to the sunglasses over Scott's eyes.

"Well they're prescription to keep my mutant ability at bay. I don't really have full control over it yet."

"What's you ability?" Cheshire asked, curiosity gnawing at her.

"I can shoot lasers from my eyes, its pretty cool but not really indoor friendly." Scott laughed, fixing his shades as if they had moved out of place.

"My ability is teleportation!" Kurt interrupted, and to prove his ability he began to teleport all over the room leaving a yellow cloud of sulfur behind him.

"Cool, must be helpful." Cheshire said, she turned her gaze to Kitty as if asking her what he ability is.

"I can phase through stuff, like walls, tables, chairs, doors." Kitty claimed, she demonstrated her ability by walking through one of the near by couches. "What can you do Cheshire?" all eyes were on her to demonstrate and Cheshire didn't know why but she didn't want to tell them.

"I can't really remember. I was only able to use it once and it happened to fast I wasn't able to grasp what was happening."

"Well this place is great at helping everyone use their gift and how to control it. I think you'll like it here if you open up to everyone." Scott said with a smile on his face.

"Veah, we're like one big family." Kurt jumped in.

"So Scott you mentioned earlier that poker sounded fun right? Well let's get started playing then." Cheshire said with a grin and followed the small group to a table. "So do you guys bet on anything or is it just for fun?"

**A/N: I hope you like this chapter and please leave me a review down below if you want to suggest anything that I should do or maybe an interaction that you want to see I will try my hardest to see what I can do. Thanks~~**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello everyone, sorry I haven't updated much. I'm trying to figure out the plot and how to lead up to it and now that I've got that sort of figured out I should be updating normally, hopefully. Anyway, I hope you like this new chapter and if you don't mind I do have a poll on my profile and I would like it if everyone would please take a moment to answer the question for me it will really help me move this story along. Thank you and happy reading!**

* * *

Kitty hummed Christmas carols while doing her makeup as Cheshire rose from her bed, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"Bought time you woke up. Breakfast will be ready in thirty minutes so you might want to get dressed." Kitty informed, claiming that she would wait until Cheshire was done so they could go down together.

"Thanks, won't take me long." Cheshire said, making her bed and grabbing a few clothes and a towel. She headed for the shower and marveled at how clean and white it was. There was no mold growing in the crack and a curtain that fall to the ground and raised high above her head. The water was hot and steam filled the air before she was able to strip down and step in. Cheshire shivered slightly as the hot water ran down her cleansing her of the good night's rest she got. She looked around to find a soap bar, razor, shampoo and conditioner and even body wash with a wash rag. The showers back at the prison only had soap bars and Cheshire spent a good about of time smelling the sweet fragrance the came from the bottles, the label reading cherry blossom bliss.

Cheshire spent a good amount of time washing herself off, not wanting to leave the hot water or the sweet smells but a knock at the door told her she had spent too much time. Quickly Cheshire turned off the water and exited the shower, steam covering the room. She wiped what she could off the mirror so she could see her reflection almost clearly. Cheshire examined how the bags under her eyes were getting a tad lighter since she's been at the mansion. Her stress has slowly been melting away but she knew it wouldn't last long, soon the bags would appear and she spend her nights wide awake with worry.

"Hey, you're going to be late!" Kitty's voice was accompanied by several knocks at the door.

"Cool it Kitty, I'm ready." Cheshire pulled a large gray sweatshirt over herself as she exited the bathroom and was instantly pulled into the hallway. Kitty spared no excuse as she grabbed hold of Cheshire's hand and phased them through the floor and into the center of the kitchen.

Cheshire witnessed the caoticness that was breakfast for the mutants. Everyone was running around, using their abilities to create something new or get the one treat they couldn't risk anyone else getting. She was shocked she hasn't grown accustomed to it and that everyday she forgot to duck for cover or try to find something to eat and then leave. She wouldn't mind vanishing and coming back a few minutes later when everyone left to do their own thing but she hasn't told anyone about her power. She decided to keep it a secret, her motives still unknown even to her and she was shocked that Xavier hasn't forced her to say anything.

"Yo Cheshire, heads up!" At the sound of her name Cheshire turned her head to find a slice of burnt toast soaring towards her. Before she could react and dodge she felt someone grab her hand, she prayed it was Kitty and that she was going phase her so the bread wouldn't hit her; instead Cheshire felt a sudden stir in her stomach and the room around her vanished.

"Sorry, I should've asked first." the thick german accent assured Cheshire that she could open her eyes and she found herself almost blinded by the brilliantly lit christmas tree.

"Um, its fine." Cheshire said, looking away from the tree and putting her face dangerously close to Kurt's. It was that instant that she realised that he was holding her in his arms and she quickly pushed him away, rubbing her arms as if she was cold.

"I am sorry, I know you don't really like it when people grab you but you seemed like you froze and that toast looked really hot and I didn't want you to get hurt well not that you look like a piece of toast would hurt you but still..." Kurt kept rambling on, tripping over his words as he spoke to her and avoided her gaze.

"I said it was fine didn't I? There was a situation and you reacted to it, don't sweat it alright?" Cheshire said, her grin on her face.

"Alright." Kurt gave her a sheepish smile, a light blush on his furry face.

"Hey Chesh, I was able to grab some poptarts for you. Sorry I couldn't heat them up for you but well that place is pretty hectic." Kitty bounded out of the kitchen and towards the two teens, two pale poptarts with pink frosting her hands.

"Sweet they're strawberry, my fav. Thanks Kitty." Cheshire gave her roommate a thankful grin as she snatched the food from her hands and began to eat, walking away from the two and towards her room.

"Ah, Ms. Cheshire, do you have a moment?" Cheshire passed one of the professors on the stairs, the blue haired one named Hank or Beast as he informed her when she arrived.

"Um, sure I guess." the girl stopped ascending up the stairs and stared at the blue man before her.

"Well, I overheard the Professor saying that he wanted to ask you a few questions last night and upon me hearing this I offered to go search for you and bring you back to him. Do you mind following me?" Hank asked, a smile on his face that begged the girl to follow him. With a heavy sigh escaping her mouth Cheshire agreed and allowed the man to lead her back down the stairs, towards the bald man's office.

The two arrived outside the man's office. The doors were tall with deep brown wood framing frosted glass and golden handles. Cheshire scoffed at how extravagant it looked and how it showed the amount of money this man really had, as if the giant mansion wasn't enough to show it. Hank knocked on the door and opened it up once they heard a response allowing them inside. Cheshire entered the room to find the bald man behind a giant wooden desk, papers scattered around. He lifted his gaze up when he heard the door close to find Cheshire and Hank in front of him.

"Good morning Hank, Cheshire." he greeted them, setting the papers down.

"Good morning Charles." Hank greeted, a smile on his face.

"Mornin'" was Cheshire's only response to the man. She had avoided the man since she arrived, trying to find somewhere to hind in the giant place. Sometimes the place was the library or outside, or even her own room.

"I'm glad you're here Cheshire, there's some stuff I would like to go over with you and I'm afraid I can't put it off much longer. Thank you Hank, for bringing her to me." Xavier dismissed the man and ushered with his hand for Cheshire to take a seat. She patiently waited as Xavier sorted through the many papers before him until he found the one he wanted.

"So what do you want?" Cheshire asked, not liking that she was back to answering his many questions.

"Well I was thinking about enrolling you into school."

"What?!" Cheshire almost jumped out of her chair at the shock that struck her.

"Calm down, nothing is set in stone. I was thinking it would be good for you to actually have an education, at least as far as high school."

"Why would that be a good idea?" Cheshire asked, crossing her arms.

"Education is important and if you plan on getting a job in the future then you will need a high school diploma." Cheshire's arms didn't uncross and for once she kept her mouth shut. "`So I know that you dropped out of school around 6th grade, did you get any tutoring or anything while locked away?"

"I did, before getting thrown into the serious stuff."

"How far did you get?"

"I don't know like maybe 9th grade. I didn't really try. I know all my basic stuff, anything else is just bull to keep kids busy."

"No, everything you learn is important. Have you ever heard of the saying that knowledge is power?"

"Yeah, I have and I think its bull."

"Well if you don't want to go I won't force you, but if you change your mind I would like to get all the paper work done so it can be pushed through."

"Ugh, fine. I'm not going though and I ain't gonna change my mind."

"No worries, this is just a precautionary." a faint smile played on Xaviar's face, "so what is your last name? Not even the prison had that."

"I don't have one, at least not one that I remember. You might as well make one up for me."

"Alright, um, how old are you? The last age listed is fourteen."

"I'm seventeen, they stopped keeping track."

"Alright, finally you answer that one." Xaviar mumbled under his breath, which caused a large smirk across Cheshire's face.

"Anything else?" she asked, her smirk only growing as she watched the man before her.

"Yes, I need your date of birth."

"Make one up for me, I don't remember that either." Xavier glanced up at the girl, meeting her stare with a question.

"Well then I guess I'll have to do that as well. Last thing and then you may leave. Do you want to get your drivers license?" Cheshire's smile vanished as her eyes widened in shock. A drivers license, what would she need that for? Whenever she was free she just walked everywhere, no need to drive when you have to working feet.

"No, I can walk everywhere." Xavier was stunned by her answer and it showed in his movements as he suddenly dropped the papers in his hands and stared at her, his mouth open.

"Are, are you sure?" he asked, stuttering over his words.

"Of course I'm sure, I wouldn't have said nothin' if I wasn't sure."

"Well, ok then. I want you to think about school though and please let me know if you want to attend or not. The new semester starts in a week." With those final words, Cheshire rose from her seat and walked over to the door. "Oh wait, Cheshire one more thing." his words rang through the room and she looked over her shoulder at him, her hand on the door handle.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I've been observing you while you've been here and I'm curious about something. Why haven't you used your ability or told anyone about it?"

"Simple, I've been waiting for the right time. Not everyone should know everything about me." Cheshire flashed the man a smile before opening the door and leaving.

Cheshire stood outside Xavier's office, gathering her thoughts and trying to figure out what her next step should be.

"Hey Chesh, we're heading to the mall. Do you want to join us?" Kitty's voice sounded from on top of the stairs and Cheshire opened her eyes to find her, Jean, Rouge and Jubalee strolling down the steps towards her.

"Um, sure." Cheshire shrugged her shoulders and followed the girls out towards Jean's van. They all stopped at one of the closets by the doors and grabbed their jackets before stepping outside.

The drive was short, a lot shorter than Cheshire was expecting since it appeared that the institute was way out of town. Though she guessed she shouldn't have been so surprised when riding with a girl that can phase the van through any building or car and Jean, who used her ability to make anyone that could've seen them forget. After Jean found a good spot to park she unlocked the doors and the team of girls headed for the mall.

Cheshire's eyes grew wide as she marveled at the bright building ahead of her. It was decorated from the roof down with twinkling lights, banners and sales posters. Festival sayings greeted the group as they entered the building and allowed Cheshire to get a glimpse of the two story interior.

"This place is huge." Cheshire gasped, her eyes scanning everything they could; from stored with mannequins to people idling chatting by the fountain.

"Its not that big, I've actually seen way bigger." Kitty pitched in, a grin on her face.

"Hey Cheshire, did the professor give you a debit card and a PIN?" Jean asked, flashing Cheshire her own from a deep red wallet.

"Yeah, I've got one and the PIN; but how much is on it?"

"The usual amount that you begin with is around 3000 dollars." Jubalee pitched in, a light blush on her face, "At least, that's what I started out with."

"You're right, Jubalee, everyone starts out with 3 thousand but since Christmas is in a few days Professor gives us an extra thousand to buy gifts for everyone." Jean clarified. Cheshire just stared at them in astonishment. She had four thousand dollars to spend, four thousand; that was more than she had ever had in her entire life.

"Well let's start shopping then. I can feel a whole already burning in my pocket." Cheshire said, a mischievous grin on her face as she headed to the first store she found.

Hours had passed by and Cheshire was sure she had spent most of money, some of it was actually spent on gifts for the other students. She found a pair of pink earings that she thought Kitty would like, that were on sale. She also found a sweat that would match Jean's style for only a few dollars and shirt she thought Kurt would like; the shirt was more of a thank you for the young boy since he saved her from flying toast this morning. The rest of the bags had jewelry, make up and clothes for herself. Cheshire felt sadness creep up her spine when she heard Jean's voice in her head, saying it was time to leave.

Cheshire exited the current clothing store, paying for a sweater before leaving. She was heading towards the escalator when a man suddenly stopped her. He wore a light gray coat with matching pants and a hat. Cheshire noticed a golden watch on his wrist when he grabbed her arm.

"Excuse me miss but you wouldn't happen to be named Cheshire?" he asked, staring into her green eyes with his dark brown ones. Cheshire's throat dried up and she couldn't force out a response to him, so she simply nodded her head. A smile crawled onto his face as he reached into his pocket with his free hand. He freed a white envelope and handed it to her, not letting her arm go until she accepted it. Cheshire took the envelope gingerly and watched as the man released her arm and disappeared in the growing crowd.

"Cheshire, there you are!" The girl turned around to find Kitty running towards her.

"Hey, sorry I was on my way out to meet you guys." Cheshire said, a grin on her face as she slid the envelope into one of the bags. Kitty laughed at Cheshire's response and grabbed her hand, leading her towards the others.

* * *

Cheshire rode in the back seat in silence, thankfully her silence didn't raise any questions since she hardly spoke to anyone. The only person to ask her anything was Kitty, who stopped shortly after learning that Cheshire didn't want to speak. All Cheshire wanted to do was run up to her room and open that envelope. She didn't know who the man was or how he knew her but the pit growing in her stomach told her it wasn't anything good and that it should be dealt with as soon as possible.

After hitting all the red lights, Jean pulled into the mansion's garage and everyone exited with their bags dangling from their arms. Cheshire darted from the van, her bags slightly slowing her down as she avoided everyone and locked her door behind her. She knew Kitty would be dying to show everyone what she bought which would Cheshire a few minutes alone.

After throwing the bags and boxes into the closet and shutting the door, Cheshire sat on her bed; the envelope unopened in front of her. The only writing on the white paper in front of her was her name, written in pink ink with lots of swirls that accented the c's and e's in her name.

Finally Cheshire reached for the envelope, tearing the top off and revealing the post card inside. It was simple card, with a picture of New York city lit up against the night sky and writing in the corner that read ' Best Of Wishes'. Cheshire's eyes squinted in confusion, unsure of why anyone would send her a card of New York when she already lived in the state. She decided to flip the card over, thinking whoever sent this might've written her a message. Her heart filled with dread as she read the words written in bright, neon pink ink.

_Glad you're out. ~Mom_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey guys I'm finally back! Sorry about being gone so long life has gotten pretty hectic lately but that's alright. So this is my new chapter, sorry its a little short but the story is slowly moving along. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please if you have time I do have a poll on my profile if you guys could please answer that it would really help me move this story along. Thanks!**

"Hey Cheshire, you in there?" Kitty's voice accompanied numerous knocks. Cheshire found herself shocked that Kitty didn't phase through the door like she normally does. She quickly crumpled the post card in her hand and shoved it into her pocket before opening the door, a smile on her face.

"Yeah, I came up here to get the new stuff i bought organized. What's up?" the question spilled out of Cheshire's mouth as she saw the worry in Kitty's eyes.

"We were like worried about you. As soon as we get home you just disappear, it seriously freaked us out." Kitty said, relief flooding her eyes as she bought Cheshire's lie.

"Well sorry, I guess. Didn't mean to worry everyone."

"Its fine, really. Do you want to help me wrap some gifts? I bought so many and have like no time to wrap them all before we do gifts tomorrow."

"Sure." Cheshire opened the door wider and saw the mountain of bags at Kitty's feet. She grabbed a few bags as Kitty passed her, apologizing for going overboard.

Once all the bags and boxes were inside their room Cheshire closed the door while Kitty grabbed as much wrapping paper as she could from her closet. They all had different Christmas like designs and sayings from 'Let It Snow', 'Wishing You a Merry Christmas' and 'Happy Holidays' along with reds, golds, silvers and glitter accenting the words.

The girls cleaned up the floor before finding a seat and getting to work. Cheshire wasn't the best at wrapping gifts, the only person to ever show her how to was some person on YouTube and that was a few years ago. Needless to say, Kitty had to give her a few pointers as Cheshire spent half an hour wrapping one gift while Kitty finished off six. After Kitty's advice, and getting the hang of how to do it, Cheshire was able to wrap the gifts faster and they finished halfway through the night, with enough time for them to do the gifts Cheshire bought.

"So does everyone stay for Christmas?" Cheshire asked as they finished up the last of the gifts.

"Not really. I mean like Kurt and Scott stay simply because they don't really have anyone outside of the mansion and I know that Logan, Hank and Professor stay as well but most of us go home to our families and then we just sort of come back when we want to."

"So that's why you guys do gifts a day before Christmas?"

"Yeah, we all love exchanging gifts but its hard around the holidays since everyone wants to see their families."

"That does make sense, I guess." Cheshire mumbled, putting a bright yellow bow on top of a red wrapped gift that was labeled to go to Kitty, although she didn't know it was hers.

"So what are you going to do? Do you have any family to go visit?" Kitty asked, setting her last present on top of the tiny mountain that formed against the wall. Cheshire opened her mouth as if to quickly answer with a firm 'no' but something held her tongue and she felt the post card in her pocket began to burn.

"I doubt I have anywhere to go really. If Xavier allows, I'll probably just stay here." Cheshire laid her hand over the pocket concealing the card.

"Well you won't be the only one here, like I said before a handful of us do stay behind." Kitty let out a few large yawns between her words, signaling just how exhausted she was.

"Yeah, well we open gifts tomorrow morning and its past midnight. Let's get some rest." Cheshire said, throwing the last box on top of the enormous mountain of presents. She rose from her seat on the floor and made her way her bed, feeling exhausted as well. Kitty didn't really say anything, other than mumbling a goodnight before crawling into her own bed and turning off the light.

The morning came too soon. Both Cheshire and Kitty found themselves startled awake by the running and screaming of the children in the mansion, all excited to open their gifts. Cheshire groaned and pulled the covers over her face. Surrounded in the darkness of her red blanket Cheshire could hear the faint steps of Kitty getting dressed and grabbing a few gifts to bring down stairs.

"You might want to hurry and get ready. Kurt, Bobby and Scott said they would help bring down some of the gifts and something tells me they won't wait forever." the brunette giggled before vanishing.

Cheshire knew she was right but her body wanted to stay in bed. She wasn't expecting any gifts and its not like she got everyone something, unlike Kitty who was most likely drowning in the presents from everyone. Cheshire didn't really see the point in getting up and out of bed but she knew sooner or later someone was going to drag her out.

Throwing the covers to the side, Cheshire landed on the ground with a light thud and wiped the sleep from her eyes. She slowly made her way towards her closet, stepping lightly around the gifts. She picked out a long sleeved shirt with a sweater to go over and a pair of stone-washed jeans. Cheshire pulled off her night shirt and was about to fully undress when she heard her door open. She turned her head over her shoulder to find a boy standing in the door way, his mouth wide open.

"You know knocking is actually really polite and makes sure you don't end up seeing anything you're not supposed to." She said, a smirk on her face.

"Um, yeah I should have, um, totally knocked. My-my, um, bad." he stumbled over his words, his tongue tieing up as he watched her pull a clean shirt over her body. Cheshire was thankful that her back had been to the door, it would have been to embarrassing if this boy had seen her chest.

"You gonna grab some gifts and leave or keep watching me change like a perv?" she asked, her words cutting through to the boys attention.

"Oh man! I'm so sorry!" his brown eyes widened as he realized what was actually going on. The boy tripped over his own feet as he tried to sprint towards the gifts. After recovering his balance, he quickly grabbed a few and bolted for the door.

When she heard the door slam Cheshire continued to get ready, a smirk on her face as she imagined how red the poor boy's face must have been as he ran down the stairs. She didn't waste much time now, knowing that two more people were suppose to show up and one of them could pop in at any moment.

After putting on her shoes, Cheshire opened the door to find three teenagers standing outside of it. Scott had a light blush on his face that showed just under his sunglasses, Kurt's features were too blue and furry for her to see if he was blushing but she could believe he was since right next to him with bright, red cheeks was the boy from a few minutes ago.

"Oh, hey Cheshire. Um, Bobby told us you were changing so we decided to wait until you were done." Scott said, trying to look up over Cheshire's head in hopes that she wouldn't see him blushing.

"Psh, you teenage boys are all the same. Go ahead in. Oh and Scott you might want to think of something else before Jean hears you." Cheshire commented, walking past the boys with her own gifts in her hands and a devilish smile on her face.

Cheshire trotted down the stairs to find everyone in the foyer, waiting to open gifts. Jean, Kitty, Ororo, Logan and Hank were sorting gifts while everyone else tried to find a spot to sit down and wait. Cheshire stayed on the stairs, her feet dangling between the balusters. she patiently watched as tiny, wrapped boxes flew through the air and landed where they were suppose to. Everyone's faces lit up with excitement as they tore into the paper to reveal what was inside.

The girl looked behind her as the boys walked past, their arms filled with Kitty's gifts. Cheshire added hers to the top of Kurt's pile, giving the boy a light thank you as he walked towards the sorters of the chaos. An hour passed by before every gift was sorted and everyone was done opening them. Now everyone was excitedly talking about what they received while heading up stairs to go pack for the trips they would make to go back home.

Cheshire moved from her spot to the bottom of the stairs, hidden from anyone that wasn't really paying much attention. She liked staying out of the spot light and was more than happy to disappear without having to use her power.

"Hey Cheshire," the girl turned around to find Kitty, Jean and Kurt heading her way, each of them holding a little box, "we each got you something, sort of a welcome gift but we couldn't find you in all the mess." Jean said, handing Cheshire a gift. A small, sincere smile crossed Cheshire's face as she thanked them and began to open the gifts. Jean's gift was a small bracelet with frosted glass charms in a variety of styles. Kitty had gotten her a pair of earrings, although Cheshire's ears weren't pierced. Also Kurt had gotten her a candle that was scented with peaches.

"I over heard you tell Kitty you liked the smell of peaches and when I saw the candle it just kinda sounded like a good gift." Kurt said sheepishly.

"Thanks guys. Its really nice of you."

"No problem, plus thanks for the earrings! I love them!" Kitty said excitedly.

"Hey Kitty, didn't you say you and Jean were gonna go home for the holidays?" Cheshire asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure the trains not going to wait forever!" Kitty said, dragging Jean up the stairs so they can pack and not be late.

"So you're not going home?" Kurt asked, quietly trying to start a conversation.

"I don't really have a place to go to. How about you?"

"Eh, with Mystique as my mother I only really have a foster family back in Germany and they weren't really the nicest of people when it came to me."

"Cause of the fur or were they just haters of the color blue?" Cheshire said, trying to brighten the solemn tone that had settled between them.

"I'm pretty sure it was the tail. Chicks dig the fuzzy dude you know." Kurt said with a chuckle.

"Well how can they dig the fuzzy dude if they never see the true fuzzy dude?" Cheshire said, strolling away from him.

"Well guess we all will stop hiding eventually, right?" Kurt said, most likely talking about mutants being in secret and his image inducer. He had no idea what was really being hidden in this place though and Cheshire wasn't sure if she would ever let them see the real her.


	7. Chapter 7

Cheshire watched as Kurt disappeared into the kitchen. Once his blue tail was out of sight Cheshire looked around and noticed that everyone was beginning to leave or talking in small groups, no one even glanced her way. With a rare opprotunity like this Cheshire spent no time disappearing slowly into the background, still making sure to keep an eye on the mutants to make sure no one was looking at her. Once she was invisible, Cheshire closed her eyes to let the darkness cover her vision and lead her wherever it felt she needed to go.

Soon Cheshire felt a chill run up her spine as an icy wind danced acrossed her skin. She slowly opened her eyes to find stones barely covered by a thin blanket of snow. The stones were multicolored and shaped; they all had letters engraved in them with names and dates. Cheshire walking through the stones, blurrying the words and numbers as her heart began to race. Why was she here? Why did her power bring her here? She had never been to this cemetery, she had never been to a cememtery before actually and she had to no idea how far away from the mansion she was. The snow was melting under her feet and she was quickly running out of breath.

"Man I need to exercise more, maybe even pay more attention in trainging class." she said breathlessly. Cheshire finally fell to her knees infront of one of the tombstones to catch her breath. When she finally had her breathing under control Cheshire began to rise to her feet. She put her hand on the tombstone for balance to pick herself up, until she glanced at what was written on the stone.

_Andrea Homestruff April 14,1993- Decmeber 20,2015 _

All the breath that Cheshire gained suddenly left her body as she sank back into the snow. Tears stung the girls eyes and dripped down her face as her cheeks bagan to swell.

"She didn't have much time left. She was gonna come to me when she got out and we would find a place. How the hell did this happen? Andrea what did you do?" Cheshire mummbled to herself, hickuping between her sentences.

Moments had passed and a light snowfall created a thin blanket on the tombstones and Cheshire's hair. With the chill of the snow and Cheshire standing without a jacket on she began to shiver and her skin prickled as she placed her hands on her arms, trying to create enough friction to heat her back up.

"Cheshire?" she could hear a faint voice echo around her.

"Hello?" the girl called out, squinting her eyes and she looked around the almost deserted graveyard.

"Cheshire, its me Professor Xavier. Are you alright?" with a sigh of annoyance Cheshire figured out the voice was sounding from inside her head.

"Man, you cant just intrude into someones' mind you know."

"My apologies, we were looking for you and no one had seen you around the mansion so I wanted to see if i could reach you."

"Well you reached me, I'm fine and headed back."

"Well alright, would you like me to send someone to get you?"

"Nah, I'm good. Isn't walking like good for the soul or something?" Cheshire began to head towards the gate, her arms still freezing.

"Cheshire, the temperature is dropping. I'm sending Logan to come get you. Where are you?"

"Like I said earlier walkin' is good for the soul and I'm heading home." Passing by the gate Cheshire headed down the dirt road, sighing at the thought of the long walk home.

About an hour into the walk Cheshire found an old gas station. The heat blasted back her hair and warmed her shivering figure as she stepped inside. She looked around until she found a tiny arrow hanging from the cieling with 'restrooms' written on it.

"Man finally. Haven't seen a building in miles." the girl sighed and walked towards the bathrooms, ready to freshen herself up.

Cheshire ran hot water through her fingers and her hair before settling on her reflection. There were dirt smudges all across her cheeks from her constantly wiping away tears and her complection looked swollen along with her puffy, red eyes. Her brown hair was messy and tangled from all the chilling wind that wipped around her as she walked down the road.

"No wonder no one would give me a lift, I look like a damn psycopath." Cheshire sighed and tried to wash off as much dirt as she could with the rough paper towels, which only made her cheeks reddness even worse. After drying her face she attempted to untangle the rat's nest that was quickly becoming impossible to tear apart.

After a few minutes and someone pounding on the door, Cheshire decided her apperance was atleast public worthy and left; glaring at the woman tapping her foot impatiently before slamming the door behind the mutant.

"Hey paying customers only can use the restroom. Buy something now kid." the cashier yelled from behind his counter as Cheshire attempted to leave.

"Yeah? So why didn't you tell me this before I used the restroom?"

"You looked like shit but now you look better, so buy something or I'll call the cops."

"Are you seriously going to call the cops and tell them what? Some teenager came in and used the bathroom without paying for something. Yeah, they'll lock me up for a real long time for that."

"Jeez here I'll pay for this and the girl's with me so don't harrass her too much, alright bub'?" Cheshire shifted her gaze towards the man on the other side of the counter. He was wearing a brown jacket with the sleeves rolled up and brown hat that's edge covered his face. He tilted his head up and his brown eyes met hers.

"Really? Professor seriously told you to come get me?"

"Yeah he did. Its a two hour drive from whereever you were back to the mansion and most likely a four hour walk in the freezing cold. So get in the car and I'll take you back." Logan's voice was firm and held no emoition in it but anger. Cheshire wanted to bolt, just leave Logan there unable to chase after her since he still had to pay for whatever he was buying but then again the car did have heat and her feet were killing her. So Cheshire listened to man and got in the passanger side of the car, waiting impatiently for Logan to come out so they could get back to the mansion.

Once they were on the road they were silent, neither of them had anything to say since the only time they communicated was during practice and that mostly consisted of Logan yelling at everyone to move faster.

"So um, you gonna go to school?" Logan said, uncomfortably trying to break the akward silence.

"Dunno."

"Ah so there's that amazing full sentence answers Charles was telling me about." Logan said sarcastically with a grin on his face.

"Don't really find it funny how Charles was talking about me behind my back. Glad to know theres no one trust."

"Now he wasn't talking bad about you. He was informing us on what kind of character you are. Your past, well what he knew of it, and where you were and all that jazz."

"So everyone there knows where I was before I joined your little x-men group?"

"No, only the teachers. We decided it was best that the kids not know since they probably see you as some sorta criminal."

"I am a criminal."

"No, you were a kid that made a lot of bad choices."

"If only the choices were mine to make..." Cheshire muttered under her breath then staring out the window, ending the conversation.

**AN: Hey guys I'm back! Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out but writers block totally caught up with me. I'm hoping this chapter was okay even though its a little boring I'm going to try and make the next one a little bit more exciting since we're going to see who Cheshire is going to be teamed up with in practice. Well thank you all for your patience and hopefully I will be able to spill more chapters out before writers block comes again.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hello everyone, so just a heads up that this is a new chapter. I rewrote this chapter and took the old one down because after sitting with it for a few days I just didn't like it and I hope this one is better. The plot is slowly moving along but I thought I would have Cheshire open up a little bit more and give you guys a sort of feeling of how the x-men are changing her. I hope you all like this chapter and please leave a review. Thanks.**

* * *

_She's dead. She died and I didn't even get a call or anything._

Cheshire's thoughts continued as she dully watched a small group of teenagers dodge numerous attacks that come from the walls of the danger room. As usual Cheshire was put on a team that she didn't even want to be put on and she leaned against the wall while everyone else worked hard; occasionally she dodged a tentacle or laser but that was about it during practice.

"Cheshire, are you going to join us or just keep standing there?" Bobby yelled while trying to dodge a laser with a reflected shield of ice that he created. The laser ricochet off the ice, shattering it and headed straight for Cheshire. Her eyes widened as her body began to glow when the laser got closer. She let out a yelp and put her hands in front of her face trying to block the attack.

Cheshire flinched and slowly opened her eyes when the blast didn't hit her. She quickly opened both eyes when she noticed the large amount of ice that covered her vision and even trapped her against the wall over her head.

"Wha-what the hell?" Cheshire looked around to find there was no way out of the ice and the tempurature around her was quickly dropping, she was even begining to see her breath.

"Um, sorry but I paniced." The girl quickly turned on her heel to face the boy behind her. Bobby was staring at the ice he created with amazement and pride.

"You did this?"

"Yeah, I did." Bobby replied more to himself than to her.

"Well can you make it like vanish? Its freezing in here."

"Um, well I can only create ice and snow; can't get rid of it though."

"Wait, so you just trapped us inside thic ice cave with no way out?" Cheshire was in the boys face, her hands trempling at the thought of being trapped in the cold.

Cheshire was shivering terribly as Bobby tried to find a way out for them. The girl attempted to warm her arms up by rubbing them but the heat just vanished and she could feel herself beginning to ice over.

_"Cheshire, its Xavier, are you and Bobby alright?"_ the voice that intruded in Cheshire's mind oddly comforted her this time instead of just getting on her nerves.

_"Xavier, for once I'm actually glad you're in my mind. We're fine but its freezing!"_

_"I would think it would be. We're on the otherside trying to get the ice to melt."_

_"Are you using Scott's laser eyes?"_

_"Yes, we are allowing Scott to use his ability to its fullest." _

Cheshire sighed, relieved that she would soon be out of here.

"Hey Cheshire, if you don't mind me asking; what's your power?" Bobby asked; he was sitting on a small block of ice that he must've made while she was 'talking' to Xavier.

"I do mind. You're not getting an answer from me." She said coldl, turning away and waiting for rescue.

"Why don't you tell anyone? You're like a bottle just floating in the ocean, never going to be opened up."

"Wow, you a poet or something?" Cheshire looked over her shoulder as she scoffed at the boy.

"No, I read that in a book at school. The main character said it to this girl who kind of reminded me of you."

"And how did she do that?"

"Well in the story this girl was abandoned by her family and, well everyone. So in time she closed herself off and never spoke. Then this guy came along and he was a pirate. He took the girl on all these journeys but she still wouldn't open up."

"What a riveting story." Cheshire sarcastically said. When she peeked over her shoulder she saw that Bobby had his head down and his hand on his forhead. "How," she took a deep breath, "how did it end?" His head lifted, she did something right for once.

"Well this huge storm hit, the girl saw her whole world crashing down and she knew that the only way to repair everything was to finally open up. She told the pirate everything, how she hated being alone and how she loved him. The storm passed and the girl sailed the seas with the pirate and they were both happy, she felt free. That was the last line anyway."

"Free, that sounds nice." Cheshire mummbled to herself, "What was that book called?"

"Um, I think it was titled Storms Aren't Just Weather."

"Thought so."

"Have you read it before?"

"Not really, my mom used to read it to me as a bed time story. She claimed it taught me that opening up is never a good idea."

Suddenly the ice began to glow red and above their heads they witnessed it begin to melt as Scott's laser broke through the final layer of ice.

Everyone was calling out their names as the two mutants climbed out of the ice. Cheshire was met with a warm blanket and Kitty brought her a nice hot cup of hot chocolate. The tiny marshmellows on top were beginning to melt and the armoa was enough to make her mouth water.

"Man that was scary, we were all totally worried that Scott wouldn't be able to get you out." Kitty said, her eyes glittering with how worried she was.

"Hey, there's no need to worry. We were going to be fine; Xavier would've found a way for us to get out no matter what, right?"

"That's true." Kitty gave Cheshire a half-hearted smile and walked over to check on Bobby.

"Hey Xavier," Cheshire called out to the man, when he turned his head she gave him a smile,"think I'm ready to go to school." _I want to find that book._

* * *

A week had passed since the incident in the training room. The morning sun was shining down, attempting to melt the snow with its heat; while everyone was still inside, getting ready for the day, Cheshire snuck out to enjoy the moments of silence in the sun. She used to enjoy these moments back in the prison, although there was always someone watching her.

"Cheshire, I'm glad to see you outside and enjoying yourself." Charles voice interuppted Cheshire's silence and she looked over her shoulder to see the man wheeling himself towards her.

"I've always enjoyed the sun but that's only when I'm by myself with my thoughts. What's up?"

"I thought I would give you a heads up that tomorrow is when you offically start school. Most of your classes are freshman level with a few extras that I believe you will enjoy." Xavier handed Cheshire a thin white sheet paper with her school scedule printed in black ink.

"Let's see. Psycology? That's a freshman class?" Xavier simply nodded his head, a small smile on his face. "Um, Geometry. I'm not very good with shapes or formulas or math so that should be fun and its early in the morning, great." Cheshire sighed and folded up her paper and shoved it in her pocket; not bothering to look at the rest of it.

"Well I hope you have a wonderful first day." with those last words Xavier wheeled back inside, opening the door to the chaos that was breakfast.

Cheshire sighed as a light breeze lifted her hair gently. She heard the faint steps of someone approaching. She turned her head to see Kitty bounding towards her, a strawberry poptart on a plate in her hands.

"Hey, Professor said you were out here. I brought you something to eat and I was even able to get it into the toaster." Kitty handed Cheshire the plate, the warm aromas of the strawberries and the frosting entering Cheshire's nose and awakening her hunger.

"Thanks, you're like the best roommate and friend ever." Cheshire smiled at Kitty and tooke a bite out of her meal.

"So you ready for school tomorrow?" Kitty asked, ushering Cheshire over to the porch swing that wasn't completely soaked with snow.

"Not really. I haven't been to school in such a long time. I'm kind of scared; um, please don't tell anyone."

"You're scardiness is safe with me." Kitty giggled. "So why haven't you been to school?"

"Um, even though I was enrolled I never really went. I always just ditched classes and did my own thing." Cheshire lied, trying to cover the fact that she had been institutionalized.

"You know when you first got here you were so distant and didn't really talk to anyone. Now look at you, you're out here on a swing talking with me and you actually called me your friend. It makes me really happy."

"Strange I never noticed that. Guess this place really does change people." Cheshire drifted off in the middle of her sentence as a horn began blaring throughout the courtyard.

"Ugh I know what that means. I'll see ya later Chesh." Kitty stood up from the swing and ran off towards the training center.

"See ya."


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N:**_** Oh man it feels good to be back! Sorry for being away so long had some stuff come up and really I'm not sure how much I'll be updating cause of the holiday and stuff so please hang in there I promise this is going somewhere I'm just trying to get Cheshire's character more developed and her relationships more secure before jumping into the major stuff. Anyways I hope you like this chapter and I'm really excited for the next chapter and I hope it will be out by the end of next week. :) Happy reading.**

* * *

"Chesh, come on and wake up! We're going to be late!" Kitty yelled as she pulled off the sheets of Cheshire's bed. The sleeping girl groaned and lifted a pillow over her face, yelling for five more minutes of blissful sleep. Kitty sighed, frustrated at her roommates lack of waking up. "Look you said you wanted to start school so get up!" The girl put a socked foot against Cheshire's side and kicked her off the bed; Cheshire landed with a grunt and a thud.

"Fine, fine. I'm up, but why does school start so early?" Cheshire groaned, picking herself up off the floor and throwing her pillow at Kitty. The pillow landed with a light thud behind Kitty as she phased through it.

"Because that's how it is. Now get in the shower so we can go eat." the brunette turned on her heel and headed towards her vanity; sitting down and beginning to apply make up. Cheshire grabbed her clothes and headed for the shower, wanting the day to be over already.

After Cheshire showered and put on her clothes, stone washed jeans and a short sleeved white top with a gray sweater, she sat at her vanity and began to brush through her hair which she dryed in the bathroom. Since she couldn't think of a hairstyle so she decided to go with a simple messy bun that sat on the top of her head. After applying a thin layer of face make up, covering up a few pimples and the un even tone she had, Cheshire began to apply a thin line of black eyeline on her top lid, creating a cat eye line; then she moved onto eyeshadow, picking colors to bring out the green of her eyes.

"Ahh, you look so pretty!" Kitty squeeled peering over Cheshire's shoulder. The girl let out a giggle before standing up and following her roommate out of the room.

The girl's got tons of complimpents, mainly everyone focusing on Cheshire wearing make up. The two were able to escaped the chaotic kitchen intact and with something to snack on before following Jean to get a ride to school.

Jean dropped everyone off outside the school and wished them all a good day before driving off. Cheshire took a deep sigh before turning around. The school was packed with people, all of them talking while either walking inside or lounging around. The noise was overpowerful and anxiety creeped up Cheshire's spine, making her heart race and her palms sweat.

"I-I don't think I can do this." she whispered to herself, fear engulfing her mind. Suddenly a hand landed on her shoulder and Cheshire glanced over to see Kitty smiling at her.

"Come on, its your first day so of course you're going to be nervous. Don't worry Professor made sure you had me or someone else from the mansion in your classes so you won't be alone. Also we can all sit next to each other at lunch." Kitty's reassuring smile quieted the fear a little but it was quickly growing stronger as they made their way towards the school doors.

"So where is my, um, locker?" Cheshire asked, glancing down at the white paper that had her schedule scribbled down on it.

"We're sharing a locker till the end of the year since the shcool didn't have any open ones." Kitty guided Cheshire through the winding the hallways and passed dozens of groups of kids just standing around.

"Hey Kitty!" the girls looked around until they spotted the source of who was calling out.

"Oh hey, its Lance!" Kitty squeeled, leaving Cheshire's side to go hug her boyfriend. Unfortunetly Lance dragged Kitty away and soon Cheshire found herself engulfed in the crowd of students.

"Kitty? Kitty!" Cheshire called out, not recognizing anyone and beginning to freak out. "Crap I'm gonna be trampled, or lost..." the continued inside of Cheshire's mind as her anxiety began to take over. Cheshire backed into a wall, finding it hard to breath. She slowly sank to the ground, covering her head in her hands and wishing to disappear.

"Cheshire?" someone called out her name and she could feel a presences drawing near. When Cheshire looked up she saw the normal, human looking face of Kurt staring down at her.

"K-Kurt?" She said, her voice cracking from fear.

"Hey, you alright?" Kurt helped the girl to her feet.

"Yeah, I just don't so well in crowds and I'm not sure where Kitty went..." Cheshire's voice began to trail off.

"Yeah, she tends to wander off when Lance is around." Kurt smiled at her, his accent almost making it hard to understand him.

"Yeah, just wasn't expecting it I guess."

"Well its a good thing you have your first class with me. Come on, I'll show you where it is." Kurt began walking away and Cheshire quickly followed after him, grabbing his arm so he wouldn't wander away like Kitty did. Anxitously glancing around and hoping no one would stare at her Cheshire wasn't aware of the blush quickly growing on Kurt's face.

* * *

Cheshire was glade when the final bell rang and she was able to leave the dreadful school. Her first day was anything but great and she couldn't wait to get outside and disappear. The girl bolted for the door but was corraled by a group of girls, all them having sinister grins.

"So, _you're_ the new girl?" one of them said, she had platnium blonde hair that was pinned back with several sequin clips. Her blue eyes were lined heavily with black eyeliner and her eyelashed could've been mistaken for spider legs.

"Yeah, I am now out of my way." Cheshire tried to push her way through but was thrown back by three of the girls.

"No way, we have to see what's so special about you." The blonde said, giggling at herself.

"What the hell is so funny?"

"Just your face, your voice oh and that hideous outfit."

"Oh noooo, you insulted me. Guess I'll just have to go home and get on with my day see ya later cake face." Cheshire tried to push past the girls again but they kept her there.

"You know with such a big mouth I'm shocked you haven't told everyone throughout the school that you were in prison." the words smacked Cheshire in the face hard. _How the hell does she know that?_ The question swirled in Cheshire's mind as the girl continued to grin at her. "Yeah that's right my daddy told me all about little miss theif."

"Oh now I see. Yeah you've got your father's big, slightly hairy chin with a tiny little mustache. Yeah you definently got that going on I can still see the hairs even through all that make up." Cheshire smirked getting a little too close to the girl's face.

"Shut up you stupid criminal or I'll tell my daddy to put you back in there." The girl began to raise her voice, clearly take offense.

"Get out of my way or you won't have to tell you daddy anything 'cause you won't have a mouth to do so." Cheshire growled, her patience growing thinner by the second.

"Did she seriously just threaten me?" the blonde's eyes widen in mocking shock as she looked around at her gang of girls.

"I don't make threats, I make promises." After those last words left Cheshire's mouth she found herself against five other girls all of them grabbing and punching at her. _Fuck this place, _was Cheshire's last thought as her insitinct took over and she began to through punches herself.

"Cheshire? Cheshire!" Through the fighting Cheshire barely heard her name being called out but soon the girls were being thrown off her by teachers and she felt tons of hands on her, holding her in place. "Calm down, its over." she could barely make out Bobby's voice as the adrenaline began to wear off. Slowly her eyes focused and she looked around to see teachers carrying the girls away and noticed that Kitty, Kurt, Bobby and a small mouse haired girl holding onto her.

"Chesh, are you alright?" Kitty asked, her eyes growing wide with worry.

"I'm fine, let's bounce." Cheshire said, reverting back to her old slang as she shrugged the group off her and walked away towards the outside of the school. Once she was out and was sure no one was looking she vanished, hopeful she would end up in Xavier's office; she had some stuff to discuss with him.

* * *

Unfortunetly Cheshire found herself outside the danger room. She cursed under her breath and turned around running straight into Dr. McCoy. Hissing in pain from the bruises as she fell to floor, her mind remembering that she did just get out of a fight.

"Ms. Cheshire, I'm so sorry." McCoy apologized and held out his fur covered hand to help her up.

"It's all good Doc." Cheshire groaned not taking his hand and helping herself up.

"Oh my, are you alright. What happened?" Hank asked, examining the minor cuts and bruises that were painted onto Cheshire's skin.

"Just got into a little scuff in school. One of the girls don't like me her and her friends found me and we all dealt with our, um, differences." Cheshire said, biting her lip.

"Well come on down to the medic bay, I want to check you over make sure nothing is broken and that you don't have any serious damage." Hank said, leading the way and forcing Cheshire to follow him. She sighed and rubbed her arm, feeling the sting with every step.

"Will you ask Xavier if he'll meet us down there then? Got a favor I want to ask him." Cheshire asked, her voice growing a little weaker with each step.

"No worries, you forget he's a telepath and is probably heading our way already." Hank smiled over his shoulder at the girl limping after him.

"Sweet."


	10. Chapter 10

"Well it appears we are done here." Hank smiled as he looked over teh results of the endless scans over Cheshire. He was relieved to see there was no serious damage done from the fight but her wrist was sprained and would need to be wrapped for a while until it healed. Cheshire hissed as he set and applied the wrap to her. When it was all done the girl jumped down for her seat and stomped out of the medical bay.

Cheshire made her way through the twisting hallways, ignoring the countless students she passed asking if she was alright or who had done this to her. The girl marched straight into Xaviers office, pushing open the big, mahagony doors and sitting down in one of the over sized leather chairs.

"So Ms. Cheshire what happened?" Xavier asked, turning around to look at the girl.

"They cornered me when I tried to leave and one of 'em knew where I was before here."

"What?! How?" The shock that crossed his face reflected in Cheshire's eyes.

"Her dad is one of the correctional officers guess he wanted to warn his little princess."

"Cheshire I know you are not dangerous."

"Xavier I just held off five people and I've done worse in prison."

"Both times you were fighting for survival correct?"

"Yeah, guess I was." Cheshire said smirking. Suddenly her smirk disappeared, eyes glazed over signaling she was swept up in her thoughts.

"Something troubling you?" Xavier asked, reaching out his hand as if she would take in.

"I need to go to the prison. Gotta visit someone. Is that cool?"

"Sure, you've been suspended for the week so anytime you wish to go you may."

"I was suspended on my first day? Were they?"

"No all girls pointed fingers at you for starting the fight. Don't worry we all know you didn't start it."

"Oh yeah? How?"

"You look innocent and I believe you are telling the truth; believe it or not you have a tell." Xavier smiled at the girl and was surprised she didn't questioned him.

"So guess I'll go tomorrow. Is it alright if I give them a phone number to ya' know so we can keep it touch."

"Cheshire you've been here for a while now and haven't asked to give away a number or even go see them; why the sudden interest?"

"You're the mind reader, you should've known its been something I've been thinking about since I got here."

"I don't use my ability for selfish reason and to invade on ones privacy." Xavier laced his fingers together and released a deep sigh that had withheld itself in his chest. "I will let Logan know and he can drive you down."

"Logan?" Cheshire's voice strained as she whined out his name, "Can't like Hank take me or something?"

"I'm afriad Mr. McCormick can not take you due to him not wanting to wear a disguise watch." Cheshire groaned but knew he was right. With a light chuckle Xavier dismissed the girl and she wandered towards her bedroom, jumping onto the bed and relaxing as it sank down.

* * *

"Heeeey girl!" Kitty bounded up towards Cheshire, a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Hey, what's with the grin?" Cheshire said, her words muffled by the blanket that was shrowding most of her face.

"I've got a date tonight!" Kitty squeeled, jumping up and down.

"Oh really? With Lance?"

"Oh no, Lance has been history since lunch. The guy's name is Richard." Kitty said, licking her lips when she said his name while throwing all her clothes out of her dresser.

"Well, hopefully Richard is Rich and not a Dick." Cheshire laughed, dodging the garments as they flew past her head.

"Oh ha ha, will you please help me find something to wear; I've only got two hours to get ready."

"Oh man that is such little time." Cheshire mocked, "here wear this and curl your hair like you did when you went to meet your folks." the girl picked up a red dress with a glittering top and long flowing skirt that ended just beneath her knees.

"You really think this would look good?"

"Well where are you going?"

"He did say to get dressed up so I guess this would work." Kitty took the dress and held it in her hands for a while.

"Dress it up with like earings a necklace and a bracelet. Also go easy on the make up." Cheshire gave Kitty her advice and allowed the girl some privacy.

When Kitty emerged from the bathroom Cheshire's mouth dropped. Kitty looked amazing, the dress complimented her tanned skin and brown hair along with flattering all of her curves in the right way; wasn't to sultry, just the right amount. Her make up wasn't too dark or packed on. Her face looked fresh and natural and although the eyeliner was black it outlined her eyes in thin lines that made her lashes look fuller and more innocent. Kitty's hair was one of the most flattering things about her, she took so much care for it; never using harmful products unless she had too and hardly ever used heat on it. Tonight it shined under the light in the room, framing her heart shaped face and making her cheek bones stand out.

"Dang girl if that guy doesn't fall head over heels when you walk out that door he must dumb." Cheshire siad, looking Kitty up and down like some fashion critic.

"So should I put on some jewlery or is this alright?" Kitty asked, spinning around in circles so Cheshire could see if her back looked good.

"Oh yeah give me a second to pull some out." Cheshire headed over the Kitty's vanity and began to rummage around.

"Wow, Cheshire how do you know all this fashion stuff?" Kitty asked, admiring Cheshire's sense of style.

"I, um, I really good at dressing other people for fancy stuff cause of all those princess movies I watched when I was younger. Also my mom dated around so I was always reading up on those kinds of magazines so I could help her and try to be apart of her life." Cheshire's smile faded, her voice wandering off as her mind fading into the past.

"Did your mom like abandon you a lot?" Kitty asked, biting her lower lip and praying she hadn't crossed some invisible line. Cheshire was so secretive and if she could learn more about her Kitty thinks they could be the best of friends. She truly cared about Cheshire, almost like she was family.

"Yeah, she did. It was always for some guy who didn't like kids or didn't think he could handle the responsability. She would drop me off with one of her friends or if the relationship lasted past a few weeks I would go into foster care. Oh, here try these on." Cheshire picked up a few silver earings that had tiny little rubies on them. Kitty quickly took the earings and put them in; not furthing the conversation since it was made clear that Cheshire was through with it. Next Cheshire handed Kitty a plain, skinny silver bracelet that Kitty put on her left wrist.

"Okay, um sit down and hold your hair so I can put this necklace on you." Cheshire said. Once the brunette sat down and lifted her hair, Cheshire laid the silver chain on Kitty's neck with a smile. The chain's tiny diamonds glittered delicately in the light, giving Kitty a beautiful glow.

"Oh wow," Kitty gasped, admiring her reflection.

"You look amazing." Cheshire grinned, admiring her own fashion work. The two turned their heads towards the window when they heard a car approach and honk.

"Guess my rides here, wish me luck!" Kitty yelled as she raced out of the door.

"Luck," Cheshire called back. "So I guess that's what it feels like to have a friend, or a sister." she smiled, closing the door and leaving her to get ready to watch a movie before bed.

* * *

It was around nine o'clock when Kitty came into the room like a hurricane, she slammed the door and sank to the floor.

"So, um, what happened?" Cheshire said peeking over at the girl withered at the door.

"He just dumped me right there at the restaurant."

"What? You were gone for two hours? Did you just stay or something?" Cheshire jumped off her bed and kneeled infront of the now crying Kitty. Her mascara and red lipstick smeared as she attempted to wipe her face of the tears that fell. From how swollen her red eyes already were Cheshire saw it wasn't the first time she has cried tonight.

"We ate and talked for so long and then he went to go use the bathroom and I waited and waited and waited until I asked one of the waiters to go in and check on him. The guy came back and said no one was in there, every stall was empty." Kitty began to sob throughout her story, breaking Cheshire's heart and burning an angry fire in her chest.

"What a jerk? How can he just leave like that?! Oh he better hope I don't find him or Scott or Logan or, Hell, even Kurt would kick his butt!" Cheshire said, anger burning inside her.

"Thanks Chesh." Kitty said, sniveling.

"For what?"

"For being here, like instantly. I called some of my other friends to see if they would come pick me up so I didn't have to look like a loser. They didn't come but Scott did and he said the same thing you just did. He came and got me and you're here by my side already makes me feel better. I'm so glad I'm here and can call this place my second home and you guys my siblings." Kitty smiled, her tears coming to a stop.

"Uh, yeah we are like family, sorta."

"Its a little different but I love it." Kitty said, her smile growing bigger.

"Yeah its pretty good. Come on lets go get some ice cream. I know there's some downstairs cause I've seen Ororo's hiding spot." Cheshire winked at the girl and the two raced down stairs, where they were greeted by several students all telling Kitty how they would either harm or kill the jerk that hurt her. Kitty's smile grew so wide Cheshire wasn't sure how it fitted on her face and when they passed everyone and sat in the kitchen with Kurt, Scott and Rouge almost in silence at first until Cheshire broke out the hot fudge swirl ice cream tub in the back of the freezer.

"Ta-da, ice cream for all!" Cheshire's voice was just above a whisper, hopeing that no one heard them. The last thing the five of them wanted was to share a secret tub of ice cream with the whole institute and face the wrath of Storm.

"I can't believe we are actually eating Storm's ice cream." Kurt said with grin on his face and licking his lips.

"Yeah, Cheshire is turning us into little criminals." Rouge giggled, taking a small scoop out of the partially thawed ice cream.

"Yeah, ha ha," Cheshire forced a laugh and looked down at her spoon. "criminals.." she muttered the last part, trying to savor the chocolate before her entire mouth turned sour. _I'm always gonna be a criminal, that's never going to change._

**A/N: Hey so this chapter just totally wrote itself and here it is. I hope you like it and I was trying to show how the institute is changing Cheshire slowly since she's been there for about a month now. I know the story is moving along a little slow but don't worry it should pick up soon :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey, sorry I haven't uploaded in forever and I'm super sorry. This chapter was rewritten like four times and I'm finally happy with the way this turned out. **

**WARNING: There is some strong language in this chapter along with a suggestive theme. This chapter does mention suicide along with drug usage.**

**Thank you and happy reading :)**

* * *

Cheshire woke up early in the morning and rushed out of bed, excited to begin the day. Her shower didn't last long and she was brushing through her hair when Kitty finally woke up.

"You're up early, I thought you got suspended?" the brunette asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm not going to school though. I'm gonna go meet some friends today so I guess I'm excited." Cheshire said, the grin on her face growing along with the butterflies in her stomach.

"Oh cool where are you meeting them at?" Kitty asked, grabbing clothes from her drawers. Cheshire's face dropped and was drained of its color for a half second until she recovered and finished her hair before Kitty noticed.

"Uh, not sure they're supposed to call me and tell me. Xavier already knows and is allowing me to go see 'em."

"Awesome well I hope you have fun. I'm gonna change then go get some breakfast." Kitty squeezed Cheshire's shoulder as she passed, making the girl tense up. Cheshire didn't like being touched, she thought she had gotten over it but the split second with contact made her believe otherwise. Cheshire closed her eyes and sighed deeply, nothing is every going to change. She will always be a criminal and have to lie about herself in order to keep the peace this place has.

The girl finished getting ready and headed down the stairs, not waiting for her roommate. With a grin on her face Cheshire threw herself into the kitchen. Dodging numerous items, unsure if it was food or power, she gracefully moved around until she was in front of the door leading to the pantry. As fast as she could, Cheshire opened the door and reached inside feeling for the cardboard box that held her favorite breakfast food.

"Here," a voice sounded from inside the pantry and Cheshire felt something brush against her fingertips. The door opened a bit more to reveal Kurt standing in the center, his arm was extended towards her and she noticed he held a box of poptarts in his blue, fur covered hand.

"Oh thanks Kurt." Cheshire took the box and flashed the boy one of her smiles, which he reflected back at her.

"So I thought you got suspended, why are you up so early?" the blue boy asked, walking with the girl as she exited the noisy kitchen.

"You know, Kitty asked me the same question. Does everyone think I just don't like getting up? Like can I never be up early without being questioned?"

"Uh, no it's not like that. It just you usually put up a fight when we had early training sessions." Kurt said, waving his hands in front of him as if he was trying to blow away the tension that Cheshire had created.

"Well I guess I can give you that. I'm up because I'm going to go visit some friends today." Cheshire informed the boy as she began to eat her breakfast.

"Well I hope you have a fun and a nice visit. Its almost time for school so I'm gonna go meet up with my ride. Catch you later Cheshire!" Kurt waved Cheshire good bye and the girl had to fight herself so she wouldn't wave back. I don't wave...well I waved to Kitty a few times but she's my roommate. I'm not beginning to actually like that blue haired boy, am I? The question swirled in Cheshire's head as she sat on a bench outside, waiting for her ride to walk out the door.

Cheshire gazed up at the bright, blue sky watching the clouds swirl around aimlessly. A soft breeze brought the scents of roses to her nose and she closed her eyes to enjoy the smell even more.

"You ready kid?" Logan's rough voice interrupted Cheshire's moment of peace and she opened one of her eyes to see the man strolling her way with his hands in his jean pockets.

"Just waiting on you." The girl grinned as she stood up and followed the man towards the x-van. The leather seats squeaked in protest as the pair sat down and buckled up. Logan started driving slowly, waiting for the large gates to open up and allow them outside the protection of the mansion.

"So what's your game plan?" Logan asked about thirty minutes into the drive.

"I've got some questions that need answers, plus I gotta know who's gotten out and stuff." Cheshire said, watching the white line on the ground blur as they picked up speed on the highway.

"Questions?" Logan looked over at the girl for a few seconds before returning his gaze back on the road. The sound of cars passing by filled the silence when Cheshire didn't answer. The girl continued to stare out the window and Logan couldn't think of anything else to start a conversation with so he decided to stay quiet also.

"Can we turn on the radio or something? Your constant drumming is going to drive me insane." Cheshire giggled, finally looking at the man. Logan's eyes widened; he hadn't noticed that his fingers were tapping against the door in a rhythm similar to a hummingbird's wings.

"Uh, sorry kid. Sure turn on the radio but no stupid pop music like what Kitty and Kurt listen to all the time." Logan groaned; he turned to smile at Cheshire, trying to make his words come off as a joke, when he noticed the slight redding in her cheeks. Before he could figure out why her cheeks were begin to turn the color of apples, she turned on the radio and quickly turned towards the window. Logan gazed at the girl for a few seconds, a wanting to question what made her blush dancing on the tip of his tongue but he bit it back. Chuck said before that she would open up in time and if we questioned her too much or with personal stuff she would just cower away.

Countless miles passed before any of them realized that country music was playing, in silent agreement Logan leaned over and switched it over to a station where Kansas was playing. The sweet music filled the air and the pair found themselves bobbing their heads to the beat. Various songs played by numerous artists and none of them boring or being a cause for changing stations.

Slowly Logan parked the van and the two walked towards the concrete building. Cheshire's chest tightened at the sight of the prison and her hands began to shake. She clenched them into fists and looked down, she was still in civilian clothing and there were no handcuffs encasing her wrists. Logan was walking beside her, unknowing of the anxiety that coursed through the girl's veins. Logan walked ahead of the girl and grabbed a hold of the glass door's metal handle, opening the door for her. With one last deep breath of fresh air, Cheshire mustered up her strength and walked into the building. As she walked along the tile floor with Logan's clicking heals beside her, Cheshire reminded herself over and over again that she was going to leave here a free person. When visiting hours ended she would leave with Logan, even though her friends would still stay here.

"Cheshire," the guard at the front desk stretched out Cheshire's name with a grin on her face, "how have you been?"

"I've been good. Got suspended for fighting in school and everything." Cheshire smiled at the lady and signed her name.

"Alright well are you ready to experience what it means to be a visitor?"

"Sure am." The lady waved Cheshire over to a metal door. When the door opened Cheshire walked in and then through a tall metal detector. Passing through that Cheshire stood with her feet shoulder length apart and her arms stretched out as the lady frisked her for anything hidden underneath her white tank top and skinny jeans.

"Alright, you are all set Cheshire. I'll call it in if you want to go take a seat." The lady opened the door leading to the visitation room.

The room was bland with concrete walls and a floor that desperately needed a deep shampooing. The tables and chair were germ ridden and wobbled slightly from being moved around for so many years. Cheshire walked the room slowly, taking in the sights of prisoners meeting loved ones for a glimpse of hope and love from outside those bars. She chose a table in the corner by a barred up window.

"Well if it isn't little old Cheshire kitty cat, come to say hello." Leah walked into room with a grin on her face.

"Dang girl about time you got here, been waitin' for like ever!" Cheshire greeted her friend with a hug before sitting down.

"So how's it been going? What's your new home like?" Leah asked, intertwining her fingers and leaning in close to Cheshire.

"Its been good, I live in a mansion and got kicked out of school."

"How did you manage to do that?"

"Took on five girls at once. They started a fight by jumping me and I finished it by knocking them out." Cheshire grinned, knowing that this was all Leah was after.

"Psh five that's nothing you took on five girls and three guards one time remember?"

"Yeah, I got tased and was in solitary for a week."

"Oh, that did kind of happen."

"Yeah it did. So now for my question. What happened to Andrea?" Cheshire's smile faded as Leah's eyes grew wide.

"Ho-how did you know?" Leah stuttered.

"I vanished one day and ended up staring right at her gravestone. What the hell happened?"

"The official report was suicide. Guards claimed she hung herself in electrical but the truth is...The Truth is, Chesh, she O.D."

"She killed herself? Why?" Tears welled in the corner of Cheshire's eyes, threatening to fall as she chocked on her breath.

"She was forced to O.D. Some guard has been bringing drugs into here and she tried to stop it. Tried to get this place to do an investigation but nah they don't want to press or some stupid shit like that. They just put her in solitary until she 'agreed' to keep quiet. But that guard found out what she tried to do and forced the drugs down her throat."

"How do you know that? Why didn't she fight back? She's stronger than I am!" Cheshire's voice began to break as a tear rolled down her cheek. Leah reached over and tried to wipe it away but Cheshire's hand blocked her.

"She told Mona. Reason she didn't fight back was because the guard threatened to kill you. She wanted to keep you safe Chesh. She said if anything she didn't want you back in here because your life was lookin' bright again."

"I can't believe she did that..." Cheshire's words trailed off and her eyes became clouded.

"Cheshire," Leah grabbed the girl's hand and tried to get her to look into her eyes, "please, honor her wish and don't come back." Leah's voice began to break also and when Cheshire looked up she saw tears streaking down her pale face.

"I will. Promise. Bye." Cheshire patted Leah's hand and quickly walked out the room, wiping her tears away with her shirt.

Cheshire exited out the door and Logan looked up from his magazine about motorcycles. He gasped as he saw how red and puffy her eyes and cheeks were. She was wiping her eyes as she walked up to him. Logan stayed quiet and opened the door, allowing her to walk and gather her thoughts. He walked in front of the girl and opened the van door for her, lightly brushing his hand against her shoulder before she shrugged him off. With a deep sigh Logan got in his seat and backed out of the parking spot.

"Anything you want to talk about?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he began the drive back to the mansion.

"No." Cheshire said, her voice was flat and she didn't turn to look at him. Through the reflection of the window Logan noticed she was still crying. He wanted to reach out to her but he knew that wouldn't be the best move at this moment. He leaned down and turned on the radio, hoping it would lift the girl's spirit.

"Oh wow Kansas is back on." he smiled over at the girl.

"Please turn it off Logan. I'd like to ride in silence, alright?" her voice still didn't have a hint of emotion in it and Logan's smile disappeared as he turned it off.

"Alright, sorry kid." he looked over at the girl one last time before turning onto the highway and driving her home.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: ****Hello everyone, so sorry that I've been gone for so long and not working on this. I got out of a bad relationship and things just haven't been going to well but I just finished this chapter and I'm really excited to hear everyone's input on it.**

**WARNING:BAD LANGUAGE, GRAPHIC SCENE INCLUDING VIOLENCE AND BLOOD**

"Dad?! Dad?" Cheshire called out to her father as she walked through the misty forest. The fog had thickened throughout the night and the girl could barely make out any of the shapes in front of her. The crunch of her shoes on the twigs and grass was the only other sound, other than her calling out. Cheshire wasn't sure how she ended up here but all she could think about was finding her father.

"Dad? Please say something, I'm scared." Cheshire felt like a child admitting to being afraid. Her father raised her to be a tough girl, he taught her how to defend herself and always put on a tough act. Then again when he left her when she was eight she began to dissolve being a tough girl. It was no longer becoming n act and became more like her actual personality.

A cold breeze had begun and Cheshire rubbed her bare arms in hope of warming them up. She called out a few more times while walking forward. Fear sat in her stomach and felt as if the pit was weighing her down and making her move slower and slower.

"He's not here." a chilling voice sent shivers down cheshire's spine. She quickly turned in the direction the voice came from but because of the thick fog she couldn't see anything.

"Who's there? Who are you?" she asked, slowly moving towards the voice.

"He's not here. I'm the only one here." Cheshire tried to swallow the bile rising in her throat but fear made her throat dry. _Please don't be her._ With shaking hands and feet Cheshire moved forward unsure if she wanted to see who was behind the voice.

"Where is he?" Cheshire asked, her voice beginning to break.

"He's not here. He's not here." the voice began to chant the words in a singsong voice. The chant grew louder and the fog began to disappear as Cheshire continued to move forward.

"He's Not here. I'm the only one here." a sickening laugh broke through the chant and a strong wind blew the fog away.

Cheshire found herself in a clearing, bordered with trees and bushes that were all brown and dead. The laugh continued as Cheshire tried to figure out where she was.

"Turn around and come to me, Cheshire." the voice laughed at the disoriented girl and drew out the s's in her name. Slowly the girl turned her body around with her eyes closed, afraid of what was behind her. When she stopped turning Cheshire opened her eyes. A gasped escaped her lips as she saw her father laying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. His eyes were wide open and his mouth looking like he was screaming. Tears welled up in Cheshire's eyes and she couldn't look away from him.

"Don't worry Cheshire." the voice became closer and the girl could feel someone breathing on her neck. She turned around to face red eyes and a sickening grin. "Mommy's here." the woman grabbed Cheshire as she closed her eyes and screamed for help.

"Cheshire? CHESHIRE?!" the girl opened her eyes to find brown hair and blue eyes staring at her with fear in them.

"K-Kitty?" Cheshire asked, dazed.

"Oh thank God you're awake. You had like a crazy bad nightmare and you were screaming your head off. Totally freaked me man." Kitty sighed in relief and got off of Cheshire so she could sit up.

"Sorry." Cheshire Sat up and drew her knees close to her.

"Hey don't sweat it but this is like the fourth time this week I've woken up to you screaming. Like no one's busted through the door worried anymore."

"Yeah, guess they recognize my scream now." Cheshire tried to calm her heart down and felt her shirt sticking to her back.

"Maybe like talk to the professor. He helped Rouge a while ago when she was having nightmares maybe can help you."

"Yeah maybe. Go on back to bed Kitty. I'll be ok for the night." Cheshire assured her friend and watched as she climbed back into bed. After a few minutes she could hear her roommate softly snoring away. Cheshire laid back in bed and covered herself with her blankets. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off into a dreamless slumber.

The next morning Cheshire got called into Xavier's office. She walked through the large wooden doors with a scornful look on her face.

"You wanted to see me?" she asked her voice emotionless.

"Yes, we are all very concerned about these nightmares you have been having. Would you like to discuss them?"

"Not really. Looks they're just nightmares and it will pass."

"So what are you going to do in the meantime? Not sleep?"

"Thinkin' 'bout it." she said with a smile on her face.

"You know I can try to do some fixing and help you get over this a lot sooner." Xavier said with a sigh in his voice.

"I said I was good. I'm leaving now bye." Cheshire got up from her seat and began to walk away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Xavier called out, reaching his hand out towards her.

"For a walk." with those parting words Cheshire left the office and walked towards the front door.

"Hey Cheshire, where are you going?" Kurt hopped toward Cheshire with a smile on his face.

"I'm going for a walk." the smile left the boys face as Cheshire pushed past him.

"Want some company? I bet I can cheer you up."

"I'm going alone." Cheshire reached the front door and slammed it in Kurt's face, leaving him there confused.

Anger boiled over in Cheshire's body and she could feel steam coming off her body. The girl didn't understand why they all cared so much about a bunch of nightmares.

"So what if I scream and possibly wake some of them up that's no excuse for wanting to go digging around in my head! Maybe, xavier, some people don't want to talk about stuff. Maybe they want to keep it all bottled up! Did you ever think about that you bald bastard!" Cheshire screamed out into the forest as she kicked a few bushes and trees that had fallen over.

"Now I don't believe name calling is called for and trust me he has thought about that." a voice called up from one of the trees. Cheshire glanced up to see a blue fur-covered man slide down the trunk.

"Hey Beast." Cheshire greeted him, her cheeks getting red from embarrassment.

"Now don't get embarrassed you had no idea I was up there and you were letting off some steam."

"Yeah wasn't really expecting you to be out here. What are you doing?" Cheshire asked as she sat on one of the trunks she had kicked earlier.

"Well in the morning I like to climb the trees and relax. Nature is very good at relaxing people. Now according to your outburst it appears you are angry at the professor. May I ask why?" Hank sat next to the girl, a warm smile on his blue face.

"Well he wanted to like go digging around in my head all because of these nightmares I've been having." Cheshire felt herself tense up with anger and ball her fists.

"Yes I can see you are very upset about him asking that and I will be sure to let him know but let me tell you he didn't ask you so you could get mad. He asked because he is truly worried about you, we all are."

"Its just a couple of bad dreams."

"Dreams? Meaning you've had multiple bad dreams?"

"Well not really. They're all kind of the same."

"Well it's been studied that if it is a reoccurring dream then maybe there is something that your dream is trying to tell you." Hank said adjusting His glasses as he spoke.

"It'll go away. It always does." Cheshire stated up at the sky, watching the leaves slightly move by the light breeze.

"So it happens often?"

"Pretty much. It happens when something, I don't know, life changing happens."

"Life changing? You've been here for a few months now; why is it suddenly coming up?"

"Hank,it's not because I moved here." with those last words Cheshire rose from her seat and began walking away, deeper and deeper into the forest.

Xavier drummed his fingers against his desk angrily as his mind raced. Cheshire didn't use her ability to leave she just walked out. He believed she totally forgot she could disappear. "Maybe these nightmares are having a bigger effect on her than I thought." he whispered to himself. Suddenly there was a knock on his door and Xavier quickly checked who was there.

"Come in Logan and Hank." he called and had a light smile on his face when they entered the room and sat down.

"There's something we gotta discuss Charles." Logan said in his gruff voice.

"What is it Logan? Is everything alright?" Xavier laced his fingers together and leaned on his desked.

"Yes everything is fine but we are very concerned for Cheshire." Hank answered as Logan let out a deep sigh.

"Yes I too am very concerned for her. I tried to tell her that there are ways I can help but she just ran off."

"Yes she told me about that." Hank said, the two men gave him a questioning look so he continued, " I met her out in the forest this morning after she had talked with you. She seemed very angry that you wanted to pry in her mind."

"Is there anything else she told you?" Xavier asked.

"Yes she claimed the nightmare will last for a while but it leaves. Also it only happens when a life change has occurred."

"A life change? She's been here a three months though." Xavier was surprised that Logan hasn't said anything and instead looked as if his mind was somewhere else.

"Yes and I mentioned that to her. Cheshire claimed it wasn't her moving here that triggered this; she wouldn't tell me anymore though and just walked off." all three men fell silent, trying to figure out what could have happened that they missed.

"Hmm maybe it was because of the prison visit." Logan finally spoke but his voice seemed distant as if he was lost in thought.

"What do you mean Logan?" Xavier asked.

"Well after Cheshire visited one of her buddies her eyes were all puffy like she'd been cryin' or something. She also just wanted to ride in silence."

"Why didn't you mention this before?" Xavier asked, staring at Logan.

"Wait when did she go to this visit?" Hank pitched in.

"Like three, four days ago?" Logan said trying to remember the exact date.

"So after this visit the nightmare began. Meaning someone told or did something to Cheshire that changed her." Hank said his voice building in excitment as he attempted to figure this problem out.

"I will speak to the assistant warden tomorrow and find out whwho Cheshire talked to and see if I can chat with them." Xavier said, his eyes hardening.

Cheshire finally felt like leaving the forest since lunch was drawing near and her stomach began to growl. She turned on her heel and began to head back to the mansion.

"I can't believe I have been walking for so long. I wonder how far the mansion is from here?" she asked herself aloud as her feet stepped on numrous twigs and leaves. Soon she was left with only that sound as it appeared that everything else in the forest had gone silent. Confused, Cheshire began to pick up speed, almost sprinting through the forest. A cold sweat broke across her skin as she raced towards the mansion, the familiar feeling of dread piling up in her stomach. Cheshire's mind and heart raced with fear as she remembered her dream so perfectly.

Trees began to blur as Cheshire picked up more and more speed but she could never escape. It felt as if she was trapped inside the forest and no matter how fast she ran she could not get out. With her heart beating as fast as it could Cheshire tried to call out to someone, praying anyone could hear her.

"Hank? Kurt? Kitty? Anybody?" she screamed out as she continued to run.

"They won't hear you Cheshire." a chilling voice stopped the girl in her tracks. Slowly she turned to find a blonde staring back at her. The woman was tall and lanky and had a menacing grin on her face.

"Andrea?" Cheshire asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's me." Andrea slowly walked over to the frozen girl and as she drew near Cheshire got her first clear look at her friend. Andrew's eyes were bloodshot and her skin seemed pale almost blue and there were deep rope burns across her neck.

"You're dead. Ho-how are you here?" Cheshire said, shaking.

"I came to see how my so called best friend was doing. By the looks of it you're doing really well. A big mansion to call home and nice warm bed; hell you practically have a family!"

"It's not all its cracked up to be I'd rather have you with me than any of them."

"Bullshit! You left me to rot in that prison! No call, no letter, no visitation! I got nothing from you!"

"That's not true. I promise I tried!" tears welled up in Cheshire's eyes and began to cascade down her cheeks.

"I'm dead because of you!" Andrea began to repeat the words, spitting them at Cheshire. Cheshire out her hands to her ears and began to scream, trying to drown out Andrea's horrible words.

"Stop! It's not true! I promise!" Cheshire cried out but Andrea still repeated her words only they began to get louder and louder.

"Is she going to be ok?" Xavier asked, his head down in shame.

"I'm not sure yet. We found her unconscious in the forest. There's no damage to her brain but something is keeping her from waking up." Hank said reading the new chart he printed up. Next to the two men Cheshire laid in a white, hospital bed. Tubes were poking out of her mouth and nose and an iv was in her arm giving her fluids.

"I should have never asked if I could go inside her mind. Maybe then she wouldn't have gone off on her own." Xavier sighed, tears threteaning to fall.

"You're not to blame professor. If anything I should have followed her but none of us expected to find her like this."

"Yes, I know. I still wish there was something I could do though." Xavier took Cheshire's hand in his and squeezed, silently praying for her to wake up.

"Come now professor, let's go get some sleep. We will check in on her in the morning." Hank walked around Xavier's wheelchair and began to walk him away from the unconsious girl.


End file.
